Terra Firma Chambers are pleased to announce that three new members will be joining them.  The new members are James Findlay QC, Walter Mercer and Steven Walker.  The new members will strengthen the Chambers in its core practice areas of property, planning, commercial and administrative law.
 
James Findlay QC called to the English Bar in 1984 where he is a member of 2-3 Grays Inn Square.  He took silk in England earlier this year.  His practice areas are local government & administrative, planning & environment and licensing work.  He is described as a "talented new QC" in the latest Legal 500 (September 2008), noted under Planning Law and Licensing.  The 2007 edition of the Legal 500 singled him out as a leading junior in both Administrative & Public Law and Environmental Law.  In Chambers and Partners 2008 he was recognised as a leading junior in Local Government and Licensing.  He is admitted to the Scottish Bar on 7 November 2008 and will join Terra Firma Chambers immediately.
 
Walter Mercer was admitted to the Scottish Bar in 2000 and has considerable experience of a wide variety of property and commercial work, including building contract disputes, property title disputes, servitudes, the community right to buy and crofting law.  He has also lectured in property law, business law and commercial law at the University of Glasgow.  He is the co-author, with Lord Eassie, of the chapters on Jurisdiction and Recognition and Enforcement of Judgements in Court of Session Practice (Tottel Publishing).  Walter will be joining Terra Firma Chambers on 1 December 2008.
 
Steven Walker was admitted to the Scottish Bar in 1999 and the English Bar earlier this year.  He has also been a member of the Cayman Islands Bar since 2007.  Much of his practice is involved in commercial arbitration and he is also a Visiting Lecturer in the LLM International Commercial Arbitration and Dispute Resolution, University of Edinburgh and at the Centre for Energy, Petroleum, Mineral Law & Policy, University of Dundee.  He acted as Counsel for the United Kingdom in international treaty negotiations on the International Carriage of Goods Convention, United Nations, Vienna.  In addition he is an accredited mediator and also Chairman of the Private Rented Housing Panel.  Steven will be joining Terra Firma Chambers on 4 February 2009.
 
We also announce that Eric Brown has become a non-practising member of the Faculty of Advocates in order to take up an appointment with the Scottish Government in which he has been seconded to the Scottish Parliament.  All members of Terra Firma Chambers wish him well in his new post.