Gordon Keyden

Mr Keyden was a consultant at Clyde & Co, having retired from the firm’s partnership in April 2020. As a partner at Simpson & Marwick, he was part of the significant expansion of the firm, and oversaw, as managing partner, its merger with Clyde & Co in 2015.

He was brought up in Kilmacolm and educated at Glenalmond. He completed his law degree at Durham University in 1975 and initially aspired to a career at the English bar but decided to pursue his legal career in Scotland. He joined Simpson & Marwick as an apprentice and was promoted to partner four years later, at the age of 26.

He spent his career serving a client base mainly comprising large UK insurance companies, representing them and their insureds in connection with claims and litigation covering motor, employers’ liability, public liability and property risks, latterly dealing almost entirely with large loss or catastrophic injury cases with a value of up to £30 million.

Amongst his notable cases were Dingwall v W Alexander (Midland) Ltd which set the tariff for loss of society claims by relatives in fatal claims (although more importantly the House of Lords held that his clients had no liability); and ICL Tech Limited v Johnston Oils Ltd in which he successfully represented the suppliers of gas to the Stockline factory who were held to have no responsibility for the explosion in 2004 in which nine died, and 33 were injured.

Most recently, he led a Clyde & Co team in successfully defending a client and their insured in a case relating to damages following a fire in a storage building formerly called the ‘turkeytorium’.

Mr Keyden was recognised as one of the eminent practitioners in civil litigation in Scotland and has been appointed to serve on committees and bodies that influence the shape and rules of the Scottish civil justice system, including the Law Society of Scotland’s Civil Justice Committee and the Scottish Civil Justice Council Personal Injury Committee. He was also a member of the advisory group to Sheriff Principal Taylor’s Review of Costs and Funding of the Civil Justice System in Scotland.

Vikki Melville, Clyde & Co’s managing partner for Scotland, said: “So many of us at Clyde & Co have benefitted from Gordon’s sage advice and mentoring throughout our own legal careers. As someone who has unfailingly always put the interests of the firm and the clients before his own, each of us owe him a huge debt of gratitude for all the support he has provided to the firm and to each of us as individuals. Everyone at the firm would like to wish him a long, healthy and happy retirement.”

Rob Hill, Clyde & Co Partner and UK board chair, added: “Gordon has been an inspirational figure to our lawyers in Scotland and the wider UK during his time at the firm, and a fantastic servant to our clients. We hope he enjoys his well-deserved retirement.”