Dynamic law firm celebrates success of Solicitor Advocate

Deborah Carmichael, an Associate in the Commercial Litigation team at Jones Whyte Law, has been granted rights of audience as a Solicitor Advocate today. She can now appear on behalf of clients in all civil courts in Scotland including the Court of Session and the UK Supreme Court, as well as the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

Deborah, who joined at the start of 2018, has over 12 years experience as a litigator dealing with contentious matters on behalf of both individuals and businesses. She specialises in debt recovery, insolvency, property and contractual disputes as well as appearing regularly in court. Deborah also utilises alternative forms of dispute resolution to achieve positive results for clients, including arbitration, mediation and adjudication.

Solicitor Advocates are specialist court lawyers with rights of audience in the Higher Courts of Scotland and the UK.  This means that they can appear on behalf of clients at all stages of the case and can conduct the case in its entirety.

Greg Whyte, Partner and Head of Litigation comments: “Congratulations to Deborah for taking the next step with her career as a Solicitor Advocate.  Training and progression are what we encourage for all our young lawyers. Deborah, along with Andrew Phillips, in our Criminal and Regulatory Team, can now represent our clients at the Higher Courts across Scotland and the UK.

Trust and good communication are vital when taking a case to court. Unlike barristers and advocates, solicitor advocates do more than just the court-related work. They run the case from start to finish meaning they know the case inside out – carrying out all the necessary investigations, getting involved in all the details and preparing all the paperwork – therefore it is a huge asset to our clients to have solicitor advocates like Deborah and Andrew on board.”