Our Advocates

Professional Information:

Year of Call: 1990
Year of Silk: 2008
Devil Masters: The Hon Lord Reed; The Hon Lord Hodge; Neil D. Murray QC
Qualifications: B.Com University of Edinburgh; LL.B University of Edinburgh


Biography:

Roddy specialises in professional negligence, property, and commercial areas of practice.  In addition he maintains substantial involvement in judicial review, local government, and personal injury litigation.  He has a wide variety of experience in civil practice.  Apart from appearing in all Scottish courts and the House of Lords, he has conducted cases before a wide variety of tribunals and inquiries, including professional disciplinary proceedings, employment tribunals, tax and VAT tribunals, fatal accident inquiries and other public inquiries including the Orkney Inquiry. Areas of practice and experience in addition to the foregoing include administrative and constitutional law, bankruptcy and insolvency, clinical negligence, land, conveyancing, defamation, companies, directors' disqualification, employment, wills and executries, health and safety, diligence, insurance, landlord and tenant, planning, and roads. 

He is a member of the Scottish Planning, Local Government and Environmental Bar Group, and the Professional Negligence Bar Group.

• Standing junior counsel to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office 2002-2008
• Standing junior counsel to Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs 2006-2008

Recent Cases: 

Beyond the normal run of cases in the Court of Session and Sheriff Courts, Roddy has in recent years been involved in a substantial disciplinary inquiry involving auditors and acted for the promoters in the Fochabers Bypass Inquiry.  He also was appointed as reporter by the Court of Session in connection with a common good petition pertaining to Musselburgh Racecourse.

He acted for HMRC in Kent Foods Ltd v HMRC [2008] STC (SCD) 307, which involved NIC liability in respect of payments connected to a restrictive covenant related to the sale of the share capital of a company, the Special Commissioners holding that the sums were employment income rather than capital payments. In MacArthur v HMRC 2008 SPC 700 he acted for the respondents in connection with a dispute arising from the valuations of shares in private investment companies, which turned on issues relating to the nature and enforceability of certain loans and related share options.