Mr McConnell has a practice that mainly focusses on clinical negligence. He is also frequently instructed in inquiries with a medical element. He acts for pursuers and defenders in roughly equal proportions. He is Band 1 ranked by Chambers and Partners in clinical negligence and by the Legal 500 in personal injury and medical negligence.

Mr Tariq has extensive experience of high-value and complex commercial disputes and public law litigation. His core areas of practice include contractual, intellectual property, insolvency, banking, company and professional negligence disputes. He also specialises in administrative and public law, including judicial reviews.

He is ranked as a leading individual in the Chambers UK Bar Guide 2024 in seven practice areas which is the joint highest number of individual rankings for the Scottish bar.

He has held a number of professional appointments. He is appointed as junior counsel to the UK Covid-19 Public Inquiry and is a member of the legal team investigating core political and administrative governance and decision-making in relation to the pandemic in Scotland.

Stable director Euan Mackenzie KC said: “I congratulate James and Usman on their well deserved appointment as King’s Counsel. They are both excellent Counsel who are held in high regard in the profession and their appointment further strengthens Ampersand’s offering of first class senior counsel.”