Lord Ashdown announced as the guest speaker at 2009 Legal Awards ceremony

Published on Sunday 1 February 2009 19:22

FORMER Liberal Democrat leader Lord Ashdown has been announced as the guest speaker at the forthcoming 2009 Legal Awards ceremony in Edinburgh.

The politician and diplomat will address an audience of 400 at the awards, which recognise excellence in Scottish law across ten categories, at the event to be held at the EICC on 27 March.

Born in New Delhi, India in 1941, into a military family, Lord Ashdown spent his childhood between India and Northern Ireland. He was born Jeremy Ashdown, but his Irish twang was to earn him the nickname "Paddy" as he attended Bedford School in England.

In 1959, he joined the Royal Marines – where he would serve until 1972 – and later became a member of the elite Special Boat Service. He went on to study Mandarin (one of his six languages) at Hong Kong University, and then spent five years as a British diplomat in Geneva, where it has been speculated his job was a cover for time spent in MI6.

Lord Ashdown entered the House of Commons in 1983, becoming the Liberal MP for Yeovil, and in 1988 he was elected the first leader of the newly merged Liberal and Social Democratic Party, a post he held for 11 years, leading them in two general election campaigns before being succeeded by Charles Kennedy in 1999.

He was awarded a knighthood in 2000, and entered the House of Lords a year later.

During the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lord Ashdown was a leading advocate of decisive action by the international community to help bring peace.

He was named a High Representative for the region in May 2002 and served until January 2006. Prior to that he had appeared as a witness for the prosecution in the trial of Slobodan Milosevic for war crimes during the conflict.

Lord Ashdown will release a biography called A Fortunate Life in April. Before that, he will speak at the 2009 Legal Awards, sponsored by Scott & Co.

Eighteen firms from across Scotland are shortlisted for the prizes, which include Property Team of the Year, Litigation Team of the Year and Employment Team of the Year.

The work done by solicitors in their community will be recognised, as will the contribution made by support staff, with prizes for Paralegal of the Year and Support Team of the Year.

The overall Firm of The Year category will be contested by Blackadders, Biggart Baillie, Harper Macleod, Morton Fraser, Pagan Osborne and Your Conveyancer.

&#149 The 2009 Legal Awards lunch and ceremony takes place on Friday, 27 March 2009 at 12:30pm in the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.

&#149 To book a table e-mail: or visit www.thelegalawards.com to download a booking form.