NEWS

His Majesty has appointed Lesley Dowdalls, Amel Elfallah, Roderick Flinn, Robert More and Charles Walls to the office of sheriff, on the recommendation of the First Minister.

First Minister Humza Yousaf made his recommendations for appointment on the basis of a report by the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland.

The Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland is an independent advisory public body with the role of recommending individuals for appointment to judicial offices within the Board’s remit including judge of the Court of Session, chair of the Scottish Land Court, sheriff principal, sheriff, and summary sheriff.

The First Minister has statutory responsibility for making recommendations to His Majesty the King and is required by statute to consult the Lord President of the Court of Session before making his recommendation.

The salary of a sheriff is £157,705 per annum.

Note to editors

Lesley Dowdalls graduated from the University of Strathclyde in 1986 and was a court practitioner in Ayrshire for 35 years. She is an accredited specialist in both child and family law. She was an External Examiner for the University of Strathclyde, a Scottish Legal Aid Board peer reviewer and Convener of the Law Society Family and Child Law Accreditation panels. She has been a Legal Member of the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland since 2004, and of the Additional Support Needs Tribunal since 2015, where she was also Lead Peer Reviewer.

Roderick Flinn graduated from Edinburgh University in Scots Law and trained with an Edinburgh law firm. He worked in private practice in Dumfries and Edinburgh, dealing with civil and criminal litigation. In 2002 he joined the Government Legal Service for Scotland, where he handled litigation work. From 2009 to 2013 he was Head of Public Inquiries for the Scottish Government Legal Directorate. From 2013 to 2019 he was Legal Secretary to the Lord President of the Court of Session. In 2019 he was appointed a summary sheriff for Lothian & Borders at Edinburgh.

Charles Walls attended Glenrothes High School and graduated LLB Hons (1^ST class) in 1994 from the University of Glasgow. After obtaining the DipLP he studied at the University of Michigan, graduating LLM in 1996. From 1996 to 2000 he worked for Simpson & Marwick dealing primarily with personal injury and professional negligence litigation. In 2000 he joined Pinsent Masons and since then has worked predominantly in commercial dispute resolution with a focus on complex construction and engineering related matters. He qualified as a solicitor advocate (civil) in 2004. He is a contributing author to LexisPSL and from 2012 to 2019 lectured on the University of Strathclyde’s LLM in construction law.

Amel Elfallah is a graduate of the University of Glasgow. She trained and qualified as a solicitor with Thompsons, working in personal injury litigation. She joined the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in 2003, becoming a Senior Procurator Fiscal Depute in 2008, and undertaking summary, solemn and appellate work. She has also specialised in equalities and training work, and has been a NITA-accredited advocacy trainer since 2008. She was appointed as a Summary Sheriff in 2021, and as a member of the Scottish Sentencing Council in July 2022.

Robert More graduated with first class honours in law from Edinburgh University in 2005. He undertook a mixed litigation traineeship with Drummond Miller LLP in Edinburgh before joining George More and Company upon qualification as a solicitor in 2008. He qualified as a criminal Solicitor Advocate in 2012 before establishing Robert More and Company in 2013. He served as Vice-President of the Edinburgh Bar Association between 2017 and 2019. He was appointed a part-time Sheriff in 2021 and since April 2022 has worked in that capacity in Tayside, Central and Fife.