Cat Maclean

Cat is a partner at MBM Commercial LLP and currently heads up their Dispute Resolution Team. She is ranked in the Legal 500 as a leading individual in Commercial Litigation, and is also listed in Chambers as a notable practitioner in banking litigation.

Cat is the only solicitor to have won the prestigious title of “Solicitor of the Year” twice, at the Law Awards of Scotland in 2015 and 2012, having previously been short-listed for the award in 2010, and in 2016 led her team to victory in the Scott & Co Legal Awards, winning “Litigation Team of the Year”. She has law degrees in English and French Law from Leicester, and in Scots Law from Edinburgh, and holds a Diplome d’Etudes Juridiques Francaises from the Universite Robert Schumann in Strasbourg.

Prior to joining MBM in 2008, she spent several years in a large litigation practice in Edinburgh, before becoming an Advocate at the Scottish Bar in 1998. She spent 10 years in busy practice as an advocate before joining MBM, and having undertaken cases in the Sheriff Court, the Court of Session and the Appeal Court, she has been able to apply her extensive litigation and courtroom experience to the work she now undertakes for her clients. She is a Solicitor Advocate with extended Rights of Audience in the Court of Session and the Supreme Court, and she sits on the Lord President’s Consultative Committee on Commercial Actions, chaired by Lord Woolman.

Her clients include individuals, technology companies, property developers and entrepreneurs. She specialises in financial claims, against banks and other financial institutions, and wins such as RBS v O Donnell and McDonald and RBS v Carlyle are testament to her skill and determination. She is the only Scottish member of the Financial Services Lawyers Association, and the sole Scottish representative of the International Banking Litigation Network, an association of law firms across Europe who are willing to handle complex claims against banks and who have the required level of knowledge and experience to do so. She is also the founder of the banking conference series, and is regularly quoted in the financial press. She was also recently appointed to The Independent Monitoring Panel of the Chartered Bankers Professional Standards Board, is a member of the Westminister All Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Business Banking to join their Professional Advisory Panel, and is a Comittee member of the House of Commons Parliamentary Inquiry into Financial Disputes.

In addition to her work in financial claims, Cat is a qualified mediator, and mediates regularly for her clients. She also has an established expertise in professional negligence claims, advising clients with claims against a range of former professional advisers including solicitors, surveyors, financial advisors and financial institutions.

Many of Cat’s cases are “David and Goliath” battles, but those she acts for are quick to say that she is “someone who knows how to throw a stone or two”. She is renowned for taking ownership of the problem as if it were her own, demonstrating real approachability and empathy, and is praised by her clients for going the extra mile to do the very best she can for them:

“Over the last 18 months she has given us first class advice, support and above all real hope. The level of attention and detail provided to us has been outstanding”.

“From the moment I met Cat I knew I was in safe hands. She explained the legalities and the process ... in a way I understood. I have always felt that my case was important to her and that I'm in safe hands and I trust Cats advice completely as its given in a way that I understand without feeling overwhelmed and frightened.”

"Cat is one of Scotland’s top litigators and a valued advisor for the APPG.  She works tirelessly on behalf of her clients and is a fantastic asset to the business community in Scotland."

Personal biography

Cat is a member of Warrender Baths Club Masters Division. Over the past year she has competed in 2 half marathons, 4 triathlons, and with the Dispute Resolution team, took part in the Great Kindrochit Quadrathlon the 1350m open water swim section and the 54k bike section of the event. In September of 2015, she swam across the Firth of Forth to raise funds for Maggie’s Centre at the Western, and managed to raise just over £2400.

Finding time to train is a bit of a juggling act with family (She has 3 children aged 20, 16 and 10) but in her spare time, she also makes patchwork quilts!