Senior staff
Neil joined as the Chief Executive of the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission in July 2015.
Background
His previous background combines significant experience of regulation and complaints, and of the Scottish legal services market.
Neil sat on the Council of the Advertising Standards Authority for six years, involved in both the governance of the organisation and in adjudication on complaints within the £20 billion UK advertising industry. He was the Senior Independent Director and Chair of their Audit and Risk Committee.
Prior to this he had been appointed by the Privy Council to sit on the General Dental Council, the regulatory and complaints body for 104,000 dental professionals in the UK. He served two four-year terms on the Board as well as chairing the Remuneration Committee.
Previously Neil worked with the Law Society of Scotland for 11 years, latterly as their Director of Representation and Professional Support. He has held several other Executive and Non-Executive Director roles in organisations and charities spanning the legal sector, healthcare, consultancy, and oil and gas.
He holds a Law degree from Edinburgh University and a Masters in Quality Management from Birmingham University.
Current appointments
Neil currently sits as a non-executive director on the Standards and Regulation Board of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. The Board sets the standards for over 130,000 members and candidates operating in the development and management of land, real estate, construction and infrastructure across more than 140 countries globally.
Neil is also Chair of Norton Park, a charity and social enterprise which owns property in Edinburgh and runs this as a business hub for charities (with around 20 tenants) and as a third sector conference centre. He is Chair of Albion Equity Ltd., a property ownership company which is part of the Norton Park group.
Caroline Robertson has been Head of Investigations of the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission since December 2012.
Caroline’s background combines experience of customer service, law and complaints. While working to complete her second degree, an LLB Law, Caroline was involved in various project work with Tesco such as piloting an online shopping and grocery system as well as dealing with UK wide complaints and queries. Caroline’s first role as a solicitor was with a sole practitioner where she under took a range of civil work. Caroline then worked in house at the Scottish Legal Aid Board for 5 years, concentrating on civil merits applications. After another short period in private practice Caroline began working for the Law Society of Scotland in 2006 dealing with complaints against solicitors. Caroline joined the SLCC at its creation in 2008 and has worked as a Case Investigator, Senior Case Investigator and Interim Head of Investigations.
Louise graduated in 2004 from the University of Stirling with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Law & Economics.
Prior to taking on the role at SLCC, Louise began her career at Forth Valley College as Finance Officer and held various roles within the Finance Team. This has given her experience of Management and System Accounting, Payroll and Student Funding.
Louise has also had the opportunity to lead on various projects within the College and this has included upgrading the College’s Finance and Purchasing systems, designing a new process for Student Payments and implementing Online Payslips.
In 2014 she became Finance Manager and took over the lead for the Student Funding Function within the College.
Louise also volunteers with the Scout Association and is currently Assistant District Commissioner for Cub Scouts within Clackmannanshire. Having completed the Scout Association training programme, she is a member of the Institute of Leadership and Management.
Vicky Crichton joined the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission in September 2019.
Vicky started out in NHS communications before developing her career in policy and public affairs, most recently as Senior Policy Manager at Save the Children, following seven years at Cancer Research UK. In these roles, she has enjoyed the opportunity to bring the voices of front-line professionals and service users, including teachers, doctors, patients and parents, into policy making. She has successfully campaigned for policy and legislative change, government investment and improved regulation on issues ranging from public health and medicines regulation to childcare provision and social security. Vicky also spent two years in Scottish Government working on European Relations and in the Strategy Unit, providing direct support to Ministers and senior civil servants and managing relationships with a wide range of external stakeholders. In 2013 Vicky took a career break to travel in Spain, improving her language skills and undertaking an internship with an NGO providing legal advice and support to migrants.