Eminent solicitors receive lifetime honorary Society membership
Two west coast based solicitors will be awarded honorary membership of the Law Society of Scotland in its platinum year, at its Special General Meeting on 6 September 2019. Alistair Cockburn and Sheriff Brian Kearney, with over 100 years service as solicitors between them, have both contributed enormously to the legal profession and civic society.
John Mulholland, President of the Law Society of Scotland said: “I am absolutely delighted that two such eminent solicitors are being recognised with honorary membership in our platinum anniversary year. Both have shown exemplary public service throughout the course of their long and distinguished careers.
“Sheriff Kearney has made an outstanding contribution to Scots law, in particular to child and family law and is widely acknowledged as an expert in Children’s Hearings cases. He was an early example of a Sheriff who wrote to children to explain his judgements, being passionate about making the law accessible and understandable.
“As a Law Society accredited specialist in employment law, Alistair Cockburn spent his legal career in litigation, as well as undertaking a number of public service roles. Most notably, Alistair went on to become a member of the Scottish Solicitors’ Discipline Tribunal, before serving as Chair for over ten years.”
Sheriff Kearney said: “I am truly privileged and grateful to the Law Society for this award. I have had a long and fulfilling career and this is a wonderful accolade to receive in recognition of that.”
Alistair Cockburn said: “I am honoured by Law Society conferring this award on me. It has only been possible with the unconditional support of the partners I have had and the tribunal staff. It was a privilege to serve the profession in this way, and I take pride in the way the tribunal has acted as guardian of the ethics and reputation of the profession while seeking to maintain the confidence of the public.”
The Law Society of Scotland invited nominations for honorary membership for outstanding service for the public good by a Scottish solicitor as part of its 70th anniversary commemorations.
Honorary membership has been awarded to just 17 solicitors in the organisation’s 70-year history. The most recent recipient, in this platinum year, was Rt Hon. Dame Elish Angiolini DBE QC FRSE in May 2019 in recognition of her remarkable career, making history as the first solicitor and the first woman to be appointed both Solicitor General and then Lord Advocate, Scotland’s most senior law officer.
Picture: L-R Alistair Cockburn, President John Mulholland, Paul Kearney (Sheriff Brian kearney's son, accepting the award on his behalf)
Alistair was admitted as a solicitor in 1972 and became a partner in Tilston MacLaurin in 1974. Throughout his legal career he worked as a litigation solicitor, latterly specializing in employment law, representing amongst others, fellow solicitors. He became a Law Society of Scotland Accredited Specialist in employment law in 1993. He also acted as Clerk in various arbitration procedures. He was a senior partner in Morisons Solicitors before his retirement in 2016. In addition to his work as a solicitor, Alistair undertook various roles of public service. He was for a period Convener of the Sheriff Court House Committee of the Royal Faculty of Procurators in Glasgow. He also served as a member of the Glasgow and North Argyll Legal Aid Committee.
In 1998, Alistair became a solicitor member of the Scottish Solicitors Discipline Tribunal. He was appointed as a Vice Chair of the Tribunal in 2003 and became Chair in 2005. He served as Chair of the Tribunal from 2005 to 2016. He served again as Vice Chair from 2016-2018 in order to assist the new Chair. It is particularly this service for the public good for over 20 years that recommends him for nomination of honorary membership of the Law Society of Scotland.
During his tenure as solicitor member and Chair of the Tribunal, Alistair consistently promoted the Tribunal’s goal of upholding the reputation of the profession while maintaining the confidence of the public that in doing so their interests were being protected. He is convinced that membership of the profession requires adherence to the ethics of the profession. As a consequence, his service has had a major impact on the profession and the public good. Alistair was instrumental in redrafting the Tribunal Rules in 2005 and 2008. He presided over the establishment of the Tribunal’s website and the electronic publication of the Tribunal’s decisions. He also contributed to the modernisation of the administration of the Tribunal and the maintenance of its independence from the Law Society through the incorporation of SSDT Administration Limited. He served as Director of that company for two years before his retiral from the Tribunal in 2018.
Brian Kearney started his career as a solicitor in private practice in Glasgow in 1960, and was appointed sheriff in 1974, serving as Temporary Sheriff Principal of South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway 2007-2008. At Glasgow Sheriff Court he was one of the sheriffs who regularly sat in Children’s Hearings cases and is acknowledged as an expert in that area of law. He was a member of the Child Care Law Review Group (reported 1990) and presided over the Inquiry into Child Care Policies in Fife (reported 1992).
Sheriff Kearney was an early example of a sheriff who wrote to children to explain his judgements in cases concerning them. He is passionate about law and making it accessible and understandable. He has published extensively, and his writing is notable for its perception, clarity and accessibility. He continues to write and publish although long retired. His publications include:
- An introduction to Civil Procedure in the Sheriff Court (1982)
- Children’s Hearings and the Sheriff Court (1987 & 2000)
- The Scottish Children’s Hearings System in Action (2007)
- He is a joint author of Greens Annotated Statutes – The Children’s Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011 (2017)
He is also a regular contributor to legal journals and regularly updates Greens Social Work Legislation and Greens Family Law Legislation. He also contributes to and updates the section on Children’s Hearings in Butterworth’s Scottish Family Law Legislation.
He has assisted the Glasgow Faculty of Procurators by regularly arranging and chairing training, and has spoken at many conferences on child law in Scotland, and also in Paris, Jerusalem, South Africa and the USA. He has spoken at training for children’s hearings panel members and others on the children’s hearings system. He was a founder member of the Judicial Studies Committee (now the Judicial Institute for Scotland). He was Honorary President of the Family Law Association. He was one of the patrons of the Scottish Child Law Centre, contributed to their conferences and was an active and supportive patron.
Dame Elish Angiolini
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