Ruairidh is an Associate in the commercial disputes team, based in Edinburgh but working across the UK. He has broad litigation experience across a diverse range of matters, acting for both pursuer and defender clients, giving advice at both the pre-action stage and once litigation has begun. He has strong advocacy skills, having appeared before various courts and tribunals across Scotland, from local government licensing and regulatory boards up to the Sheriff Appeal Court. In addition, he is one of a few solicitors from the UK who has appeared before the Procurement Review Board of the European Space Agency.
Ruairidh has experience acting in high-value, complex commercial litigations in both Scotland and in England & Wales, including cases that were backed by litigation funders. He has also advised on matters that involved international, cross-border disputes and those where proceedings have been raised in more than one jurisdiction. His work includes advising on the protection of intellectual property rights, protecting the reputation of individuals and businesses, challenging decisions via judicial review and bringing claims for professional negligence.
Ruairidh's recent intellectual property litigation experience includes successfully defending a client against allegations of patent infringement, and counterclaiming for invalidity in the Patents Court. Ruairidh was also instructed in the proceedings before the Court of Appeal, in which the appeal was refused. His other commercial litigation experience includes litigating a claim against the former administrators of a football club, bringing a professional negligence claim against a financial advisor in respect of pension advice; and litigating a claim against a former director for a breach of his fiduciary duties.
In the space sector, Ruairidh represented a client before the Procurement Review Board of the European Space Agency; advised a European space agency on the legal and policy aspects of deploying infrastructure and assets for space surveillance and tracking in ultra-peripheral sites; and carried out a review for a government on the legal basis and practice of its institutions in specific fields of space activities. He is a member of the International Institute of Space Law and co-authored a chapter in the Routledge Handbook of Commercial Space Law, that was published in 2023.
