bto grows team with two new senior appointments

bto Solicitors has announced further expansion with the appointment of Alasdair Gillies and Laura Salmond as partners in its Glasgow office.

Joining from Levy & McRae, Mr Gillies and Ms Salmond both bring a wealth of valuable experience across a number of sectors.

Mr Gillies, who has 14 years’ experience in both criminal and civil law, has become bto’s third criminal solicitor advocate and its 15th solicitor advocate, giving the firm one of the largest advocacy teams in Scotland.

His experience in criminal casework encompasses acting primarily for large public sector organisations which represent the rights of their members. He has also represented private clients in a number of high profile criminal cases.

His civil casework background includes fatal accident inquiries, regulatory work, contract disputes and personal injury and medical negligence claims, where he has been successful in a number of multi-million pound actions. High profile litigation claims in which his strategic input has been key include a case which was taken to the House of Lords.

Ms Salmond, who has focused on employment law for a decade, joins Caroline Carr’s employment law team, which includes two accredited specialists. She advises on the full spectrum of employment issues arising in the workplace, including ill health absences, flexible working requests, redundancy, performance, equality and disciplinary and grievance matters.

She is also experienced in advising and representing trade union members in a wide range of employment-related matters and representing both employees and employers at employment tribunals throughout Scotland.

Mr Gillies said: “bto is renowned for its client-focused approach and excellent level of service, so Laura and I are very pleased to be joining the team. Moving to a bigger practice is a great opportunity for us personally at this stage in our careers.”

bto’s chairman, Alan Borthwick, added: “Alasdair and Laura are both highly-regarded solicitors in their respective fields, with demonstrable success in a wide range of high profile cases.

“Their decision to join bto is tremendous news for us and we welcome the specialist knowledge and expertise they will bring to the firm and our clients.”