19 January 2018

Two New Criminal Solicitor Advocates Strengthen Team’s Advocacy Offering. Team Attains Three New Rankings Across Chambers and Partners UK and The Legal 500.

Leading independent law firm BTO Solicitors LLP has built on momentum gained throughout 2017 with the recent admission of associates Andrew Phillips and David Cairns as criminal solicitor advocates.

Pictured: Betheny Ross, Vikki Watt, David Cairns, Alan Borthwick, Andrew Philips, Alasdair Gillies, Amy Anderson, Clare Bone.

The recent admissions bring BTO's Advocacy team to an impressive 20 Solicitor Advocates, ranking it one of the largest advocacy practices in Scotland.

The achievement is the latest in a series of accolades for the firm’s market-leading Regulatory and Criminal Defence Team, which is led from the front by partners Clare Bone, Vikki Watt and Alasdair Gillies, all qualified solicitor advocates.

Ranked Band 1 in The Legal 500 for 'Health & Safety law' for many years, the team secured additional Band 1 rankings in both the 'Health & Safety law' and 'Crime' categories in Chambers and Partners UK legal directory. BTO is the only Scottish law firm to carry Band 1 rankings for both specialist areas of practice.

The team also attained new rankings in the 'General and Financial Crime' sections of The Legal 500 legal directory, in recognition of its expanding market share in these specialisms.

Having doubled in size in the past two years, the team expects to continue that growth going forward.

Chairman Alan Borthwick commented:

"The recent accolades for the Regulatory and Criminal Defence Team recognise its first-rate commitment to client service and demonstrate its emphasis on first-class advocacy. We see this as a fantastic platform upon which to base further expansion of a market leading team."