Ruairidh is a dual-qualified Associate in the Commercial Disputes team. He has broad litigation experience across a range of matters, giving advice both at the pre-action stage and once litigation has begun.
He has strong advocacy skills, and has 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 acted 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 international, cross-border matters including 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.
- Acting for defendants in claims concerning alleged anticompetitive cartel activities involving the alleged manipulation of the price of farmed Atlantic salmon.
- Acting for a utility company in a Public Inquiry concerning the compulsory purchase of land for the proposed construction of critical national infrastructure, and the associated judicial review of the decision to grant planning consent.
- Representing a client before the Procurement Review Board of the European Space Agency, challenging an invitation to tender.
- Successfully defending a client against allegations of patent infringement and counterclaiming for invalidity in the Patents Court, England and Wales. Ruairidh also co-ordinated with US counsel about parallel proceedings that were raised in the US. He was also instructed in the proceedings before the Court of Appeal, in which the appeal was refused.
- Acting for a hotel in a claim for passing off against a competitor hotel, in which an interim interdict (injunction) was secured on an urgent basis.
- Acting for a Scottish company that was sued in the Hungarian courts, but for which the claim proceeded under Scots law, including liaising with client’s local Hungarian counsel about the defence.
- Acting for the liquidators in a claim against the former administrators of a company that owned a football club.
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.
