Judge to be honoured with top accolade at legal awards

THE second most senior judge in the UK is to be honoured this week, after he was selected for a lifetime achievement accolade at the Scottish Legal Awards.

Lord Hope of Craighead, a former lord president and dean of the Faculty of Advocates, has been selected for the prize to recognise a stellar career that has taken him to the top of his profession.

The award, which is voted for by senior figures from law, politics and business in Scotland, will be collected by Lord Hope in person at the Scott + Co Legal Awards in Edinburgh on Friday.

He follows in the footsteps of his former mentor at the Scottish Bar, Lord Mackay of Clashfern, who picked up the accolade at last year's event.

Lord Hope said: "I am very touched that somebody should think of me. I am not conscious of having done more than my job.

"(Lord] James Mackay's advice was, 'Never turn down an opportunity'. If you get these wonderful jobs handed to you, put your back into it and make the best of it'."

Lord Hope has risen through the ranks of the legal establishment working for 24 years at the Scottish Bar, ultimately as Dean of the Faculty of Advocates.

He was then appointed directly from the Bar to the Lord President of the Court of Session.

The son of an Edinburgh lawyer, he is now one of the most influential people working in the highest court in the UK. As deputy president of the Supreme Court, he is jointly responsible for making decisions in the final court of appeal for civil cases.

He was educated at Edinburgh Academy, Cambridge University and Edinburgh University and is one of only two Scottish justices at the Supreme Court.

Michael Walker, a former chairman of Maclay Murray and Spens and a member of the judging panel, said: "I voted for Lord Hope, not only because he has achieved so much but also because he has retained the quiet modesty and dignity that I always connect with those Scottish judges who have turned out to be the best ones."