Starting a civil claim in Scotland

Produced in partnership with Richard McMeeken of Morton Fraser MacRoberts LLP and Nicola Edgar of Morton Fraser MacRoberts LLP

Practice notes

Starting a civil claim in Scotland

Produced in partnership with Richard McMeeken of Morton Fraser MacRoberts LLP and Nicola Edgar of Morton Fraser MacRoberts LLP

Practice notes

This Practice Note deals with both the substantive and procedural considerations that should be addressed when commencing a civil action in the Scottish courts. It covers:

•
issues of prescription and limitation of actions
•
investigations which should be carried out prior to raising an action
•
the jurisdiction of the Court of Session and the sheriff courts, and choice of forum
•
specialist rules available in relation to certain types of action
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Pre-action protocols which apply in relation to certain types of action
•
service of the action

This note is designed to be neutral as to the procedural rules. It should be read in conjunction with both the applicable rules and the practice notes on specific procedure. For guidance, see: Scottish DR: courts and civil procedure—overview.

For guidance on:

•
issues to consider before bringing a civil claim in a Scottish court and other aspects of starting and progressing a civil claim in Scotland, see: Scottish DR: prescription and limitation—overview,

Richard McMeeken

Lawyer, Morton Fraser MacRoberts LLP

Richard is a partner in the commercial litigation team at Morton Fraser MacRoberts LLP where he has worked for 20 years. He is ranked as a leading individual for commercial litigation in Chambers. He has a broad practice focussing on disputes in the areas of commercial contract, real estate, professional liability and insolvency. He also deals with cases in the areas of fraud and financial crime and is the firm's Money Laundering Compliance Officer. In addition to his commercial litigation practice, Richard leads Morton Fraser's contentious trusts and executries team which is ranked Band 1 in Legal 500. He is a solicitor advocate (2011) and is qualified (although does not currently practice) in England & Wales (2008). Richard also has an academic interest in the law and regularly speaks at conferences on his areas of expertise and regularly writes on legal developments. He is an editor of the Civil Practice Bulletin in Scotland and, for 10 years, was the lead commercial litigation tutor on the Diploma in Legal Practice at the University of Edinburgh. He is a board member of the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission.

Nicola Edgar

Partner, Morton Fraser MacRoberts LLP

Nicola is a Partner at Morton Fraser MacRoberts LLP. She is an accredited specialist in personal injury law and certified by the Law Society of Scotland as a trauma informed lawyer. She is also highly experienced in dealing with clinical negligence litigation.

Acting on behalf of both pursuer and defender clients, Nicola specialises in high value, complex claims with a particular focus on fatal claims. She regularly acts on behalf of individuals, large scale insurers, commercial clients and public sector clients and advises on a wide variety of claims including those involving employers' liability, public liability, cycling accidents, motor accidents, occupational disease and accidents abroad. She has successfully resolved medical negligence claims following delayed and missed diagnosis, together with negligent treatment.

Nicola deals with pre-litigated cases in which she focusses on negotiating satisfactory settlements on behalf of her clients. If an agreement is not reached, she provides sturdy advice based on her extensive experience of conducting cases in both the Court of Session and the Sheriff Court. Nicola also has experience of dealing with Health and Safety litigation and has been involved in a number of major Fatal Accident Inquiries.

Nicola regularly writes on legal developments and she is also a Tutor on the postgraduate Civil Litigation course on the Diploma in Legal Practice at Glasgow University.

Jurisdiction(s):

United Kingdom

Key definition:

Dispute resolution definition

What does Dispute resolution mean?

pension scheme disputes between the member and the trustees can be resolved using a range of different methods including internal dispute resolution, TPAS, which operates a network of volunteer advisers, the Pensions Ombudsman, the courts and alternative dispute resolution by way of arbitration or mediation.

Starting a civil claim in Scotland

Produced in partnership with Richard McMeeken of Morton Fraser MacRoberts LLP and Nicola Edgar of Morton Fraser MacRoberts LLP