I was a practising lawyer (solicitor) for 25 years before moving into translation. My jobs as a lawyer included being Deputy Solicitor to the Church of Scotland, regional solicitor for a major construction company and a senior position in the Law Society, as well as 5 years at the start of my career in general practice. I also spent 13 years self-employed in my own practice which I set up, working primarily in property (real estate) related business.

I am also a classical musician, having played bassoon in most of the professional orchestras in Scotland (RSNO, BBC SSO, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Scotish Ensemble). Having moved far away from the central belt, where most of the professional music hapens in Scotland, I now confine myself to occasional playing and regularly conducting our local amateur orchestra, which I have done since 2002.

My translation work is mostly via agencies in the UK or the Netherlands, with the work covering all aspects of legal and commercial subject matter, from translating new statutes and parliamentary memoranda to judgments and pleadings at all levels of the Dutch and Belgian judicial structure. Much of the work has an EU/EC aspect. I have also done large amounts of work in the fields of immigration, taxation, prisons, counterterrorism, aviation & transport infrastructure.

I always try to provide accurate and prompt work, and to give added value where I can. This might be as simple as pointing out grammatical/spelling errors in source texts but can also range to suggesting inherent inconsistencies or inaccurate references. This is an area where my professional background gives me the confidence to communicate with lawyers on equal terms and in their own terminology.