Obituary: David Stewart Williamson

David Stewart Williamson was widely recognised within the profession as one of the outstanding lawyers of his generation. Despite his diverse and complex work as a partner in Brodies, he also held a wide variety of part-time appointments and for over 25 years provided free legal advice to clients of the Citizens’ Advice Bureaux, for which he received an OBE.

David was born in Kilmarnock, the son of a civil servant. The family moved to Edinburgh and he attended the Royal High School, with considerable academic success. He then studied law at the University of Edinburgh.

In view of the success that David subsequently enjoyed in the law, it is perhaps surprising that he restricted himself to an ordinary degree. Indeed, he made little secret of the fact that he found his law classes to be relatively boring. He spent much of his time on various non-academic activities, including reporting on rugby matches for a small press agency, and supplemented his student finances by singing and playing the mouth organ, in various Edinburgh pubs. He retained a lifelong interest in country and western music.

David joined Simpson & Marwick, WS as an apprentice, coming under the wing of Evan Weir, a highly experienced court practitioner, who became his mentor. David qualified in 1971, and was soon made a partner, specialising in personal injuries litigation, on behalf of insurance companies and the National Union of Mineworkers.

In 1976, David joined Brodies, WS as a partner and immediately set about developing the court department. Throughout his time at Brodies, David inspired a succession of loyal apprentices, trainees and assistants, who look back with gratitude for all that they learned from David. They revered his encyclopaedic knowledge of the law, his tactical skill and his great ability to get to the heart of a case, in a very short time, apparently without having read all the papers. David was generous with his time and is remembered with great affection as well as respect by all who worked with him.

One clear indication of this respect was that David was consulted frequently by solicitors who had professional problems of their own, representing many who found themselves before the Discipline Tribunal. He was for many years Vice Chairman of the Legal Defence Union. He was never judgmental in this role but always sympathetic and supportive.

In 1994 David was granted extended rights of audience as a solicitor advocate in the Court of Session. He was the first solicitor advocate ever to exercise these rights and made regular appearances in court. In 2002 he became a Queen’s Counsel.

Latterly, David’s name appeared, without fail, in the annual directories about the leading lawyers in Scotland, invariably with the highest grading. One survey awarded him an “additional” star, an accolade not conferred on any other solicitor in Scotland.

Persistent efforts were made by members of the Faculty of Advocates to persuade him to join the Bar, where he was widely respected for his unique way of instructing counsel’s opinion. In his carefully drafted letters, always written in the third person, David not only posed the correct questions, he provided fully reasoned answers, which were usually gratefully adopted by counsel. However, David preferred the camaraderie of working in a happy and vibrant firm.

As a litigator David was always mindful of his responsibilities to the court as well as to his client. Confrontation was not his style – unless it had to be. He enjoyed getting to grips with the law, particularly where the law might be changing, such as his 1989 case Litster v Forth Dry Dock and Engineering Co. Afterwards he could tell his client that he had lost only when the House of Lords decided to change the law.

Over many years he held a great variety of appointments. He lectured and tutored part-time at Edinburgh University. In 1990 he was appointed a part-time employment tribunal chairman. Between 1996 and 1999 he sat as a temporary sheriff. He was appointed a part-time sheriff in 2000 and last sat in Oban Sheriff Court, shortly before Christmas 2003. David was a highly respected member of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board and subsequently the Appeals Panel. He was a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

The law was not David’s only passion. He took every opportunity to play cricket. He loved cricket tours – in the UK and abroad. He was a member of the MCC and skilfully arranged business meetings in London to coincide with one day internationals and test matches at Lords. David also enjoyed skiing, set up a hillwalking club in Brodies, and played chess competitively for many years. As a colleague commented, shortly after David’s death, David’s candle had three ends to it.

For all that David was an outstanding lawyer, he was a very kind and modest man who often underplayed his achievements. There was no side to David. Indeed there was no façade to him either. He was an individual who loved to socialise, who could stimulate and entertain, but who never wished to be accused of conforming.

In all his endeavours he was supported by his wife Dorothy, for over 29 years his devoted companion and soulmate. Dorothy introduced into David’s domestic life a measure of stability and organisation which had not always been apparent before. David is survived by Dorothy, and his three stepchildren, Dawn, Glyn and Scott.

Contributed