R&R Urquhart LLP

Senior Partner: Colin Whittle
Colin Whittle graduated from Cambridge University with Honours in land economy and was the FRICS gold medal winner in his year. After working as a land agent he then read law at the University of Aberdeen, joining R & R Urquhart in 1976. Colin represents a large number of private and commercial clients throughout Scotland and abroad advising on a significant range of issues from land development to capital taxation, commercial law to rural estates, and from agricultural law to executries amongst other areas. He is a director of a number of companies and has extensive trustee responsibilities. For a number of years he sat on the Highlands & Islands Development Board where he oversaw property, planning and development issues across the region.

Partners:

Jane Ferguson
Jane Ferguson studied law at the University of Edinburgh, graduating LL.B. in 1989. She worked in Australia in the Attorney General's office in Sydney and travelled extensively in Australia, New Zealand and Asia. She trained and then worked for five years with leading Edinburgh firm, W & J Burness (now Burness) before moving back North to Moray to take on responsibility for the Litigation Department at R & R Urquhart LLP. She covers a wide area of court related matters before Sheriff Courts, the Court of Session, the Scottish Land Court, Employment and other tribunals. Jane is also a qualified mediator and a member of CALM Mediation, as well as being a member of a specialist Employment Law Group.

James Hotchkis
James Hotchkis runs the Nairn office of the Firm and was a Partner with MacGregor & Co before it then merged with R & R Urquhart in 2002. James' work covers a wide range of issues including property conveyancing, commercial and development law, wills, trusts and executries, family and child law, separation agreements and divorces, accident claims, liquor licensing and general business.

Will Cowie
Will Cowie joined R & R Urquhart in 1994 having worked with W & J Burness and MacClure Nasmith in Edinburgh and Glasgow. A graduate of the University of Aberdeen, Will's areas of speciality include property law, general practice, company and commercial law. He represents a number of corporate and commercial clients throughout the Moray Firth region, and is currently Clerk to the Spey and Findhorn Salmon Fishery Boards as well as being a trustee to a number of charitable foundations.

Alix Robberts
Alix Robberts joined R & R Urquhart in 2001 and was assumed as a Partner in January 2007. Alix  handles a variety of property  related matters including-

• the sale and purchase of  all types of rural property, such as estates, farms, country houses, cottages, house sites, forestry, crofts, salmon fishings; 
• the sale and purchase of development land and development land option agreements;
• the sale and purchase of commercial property;
• the leasing of agricultural, commercial and residential properties. 

Jamie Whittle
Jamie Whittle was a Morehead Scholar to the University of North Carolina where he gained a BA (Hons) in modern languages, before receiving an LLB in law at the University of Edinburgh and an MSc with distinction in human ecology. His main areas of work include environmental and planning law, commercial law and renewable energy, agricultural law, litigation and mediation. He is a referral solicitor for the Environmental Law Foundation and Scottish Tenant Farmers Association, and a Council Member of the UK Environmental Law Association. Jamie is a part time lecturer in environmental law at the University of Edinburgh School of Law.

Lesley Clark
Lesley Clark joined R & R Urquhart LLP in 2008 and heads the Firm’s Property Law and Residential Conveyancing department. She has extensive experience in a full range of property law aspects including the transfer of residential property and land, as well as an in-depth knowledge of private client related work.

Managing Director: Lesley Laughton
Lesley Laughton graduated BSc Hons from Aberdeen University in 1985. After a brief spell working in Pathology at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Lesley joined the Inland Revenue, initially based in Sunderland and latterly in Aberdeen. From there she moved into the accountancy profession and joined Price Waterhouse in 1989 where she gained the professional qualification, ATII. Lesley joined R & R Urquhart as Financial Controller in April 1996, and is the firm's Managing Director with responsibility for all administration matters.

Solicitors:

Laura McLean
Laura McLean grew up in Elgin and studied Law at the University of Aberdeen. She trained in Oban and joined R & R Urquhart in 2008 after moving back to Moray. Her particular areas of practice are litigation, family and child law, adults with incapacity, wills and executries.

Judith Clark
Judith Clark graduated LLB Law with options in Management Studies (Hons) from University of Aberdeen in 2004, before obtaining her Diploma in Legal Practice from Glasgow Graduate School of Law. She trained with Archibald Campbell & Harley WS in Edinburgh before returning North and joining R & R Urquhart in 2009. Judith specialises in trust, will and executry work as well as capital tax planning and charity law.

Calum MacLeod
Calum MacLeod joined the firm in 2010, returning to his native Highlands from the central belt.  Prior to that and after graduating from the University of Glasgow, Calum had spent five years at Shepherd and Wedderburn LLP, one of Scotland's largest firms.  Calum handles general property related work, crofting law, rural property law, commercial property, and other commercial agreements (including renewable energy agreements).  Calum is originally from the Isle of Skye and is a native Gaelic speaker.

Property Team:

Mary Kay: Head Specialist Conveyancing Paralegal
Mary Kay is Head Paralegal of the Firm's Residential Conveyancing Department with extensive experience in house sales and purchases. With Paralegal Certificates from the University of Strathclyde's Law School in conveyancing as well as wills & executries, Mary heads a dynamic team that deals with a wide range of property transactions.

Lisa Taylor: Property Manager Forres
Lisa graduated from QMU Edinburgh in 1989 with a BA in Communication Studies following which she worked in marketing in Germany for several years. Upon returning to Scotland she expanded into web development and ran her own web design business for ten years whilst also project managing a self-build and several property renovations. As a web designer Lisa has been involved with the design and marketing of several property agency web sites. Now based in her native Moray, Lisa joined R & R Urquhart LLP in January 2010.