News In Focus
15 March 2010
Lord Hope to receive lifetime achievement award at Scottish Legal Awards
Lord Hope of Craighead is to receive the lifetime achievement award at the 2010 Scottish Legal Awards to be held this Friday, 19 March, the Scotsman reports today.
Admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1965, David Hope was elected Dean of Faculty and then appointed Lord President of the Court of Session in 1989, before moving to the House of Lords in 1996. He was appointed Deputy President of the UK Supreme Court when that court was created last year.
He trained for the bar under James Mackay, now the former Lord Chancellor Lord Mackay of Clashfern, who won the award last year.
Michael Walker, member of the judging panel and former chairman of Maclay Murray Spens solicitors, commented: “I voted for Lord Hope, not only because he has achieved so much but also because he has retained the quiet modesty and dignity that I always connect with those Scottish judges who have turned out to be the best ones. As a mere solicitor it was always a pleasure to instruct David Hope because of the approach he adopted at consultation and the complete clarity (including very neat handwriting!) of his opinions in the days when these things were written as much as they were typed.”
Joy Glass, partner at Scott + Co, the title sponsor of the legal awards commented: “Lord Hope is one of the most influential Scottish lawyers working in the UK today. His achievements are remarkable and our own panel of judges agrees that he is a very worthy winner of this honour.”
Other distinguished professionals who have collect this award include Lord Cullen and Sir Gerald Gordon QC.