Professor Ross Harper: Celebrated lawyer likened to Scott and Hume

Born in 1935, John Ross Harper co-founded Ross Harper & Murphy in 1961, helping to turn it into one of Scotland’s biggest legal firms.

Such is his reputation that the Law Society of Scotland lists him on its website alongside the likes of Sir Walter Scott, David Hume and Donald Dewar – a close friend of Professor Harper – in a list of famous Scottish lawyers.

During his career, he held positions including professor of law at Strathclyde University and president of the International Bar Association, and also helped to set up the legal firm Harper Macleod.

One of the most colourful chapters of his career came in 1989 when he was falsely accused by the Sun newspaper of spanking a prostitute with a pair of slippers at the Caledonian Hotel in Edinburgh.

He was forced to resign as president of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Association, but he retained his position as senior partner in Ross Harper & Murphy until he retired from the company in 2001.

He continued in his role as chairman of Mining Scotland.

Having won a libel case against the Sun, he went on to become president of the International Bar Association, and it was not long before he was welcomed back into the Conservative fold.

Prof Harper was fond of regaling dinner parties with the story of how he would use his umbrella to hide from photographers during the sex allegations. Only later did he realise the name of his firm had been emblazoned across the front.

Following his retirement, Prof Harper spearheaded the Tories’ campaign in Scotland for the 2001 general election.

In 2006, he was back in the news when his personal assistant was jailed after stealing £190,000 from his bank accounts.

Janis Dickson embezzled the equivalent of nearly £1,000 a week over a four-year period from the accounts of Prof Harper, who had asked that she be spared prison.

Prof Harper was appointed CBE in 1986 for public and political services and was awarded an honorary doctorate for services to law from Glasgow University, his alma mater, in 2002.

He stood as a Tory parliamentary candidate in Hamilton and West Renfrewshire in the 1974 general election, but lost to Labour. He has written a number of books, including one on The Glasgow Rape Case, Scotland’s first private prosecution.