CLAN CHILDLAW - Key Persons


Alison Reid

Job Titles:
  • Principal Solicitor and Chief Executive
Alison was enrolled as a solicitor in 1996. She worked in civil litigation in private practice for four years before being employed as a Reporter to the Children's Hearings. Having recognised the need for a specialist, outreach, legal representation service for children and young people in Scotland, Alison co-founded Clan Childlaw in 2008 and continues to be employed as its Chief Executive and Principal Solicitor. Alison is a member of the Scottish Civil Justice Council Family Law Committee. She is a court reporter and curator ad litem in relation to contact and residence disputes in the sheriff court and a curator ad litem and reporting officer in relation to adoption and permanence proceedings. Until recently she was also a safeguarder in the children's hearings system, a member of the Law Society of Scotland's Access to Justice Committee and a member of the City of Edinburgh Council's Child Protection Committee. In 2021, Alison became a Law Society of Scotland Certified Specialist in Trauma Informed Practice. Alison loves most sports and enjoys camping and walking in the Scottish hills.

Aoife Kelly

Job Titles:
  • Legal Support Assistant

Cathy Asante

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board
  • Solicitor and Legal Officer at the Scottish Human Rights Commission
Cathy is a qualified solicitor and legal officer at the Scottish Human Rights Commission. She leads the work of the Commission in promoting a human rights based approach, with a particular focus on health and social care. She previously worked at Legal Services Agency, a law centre, as a solicitor in the Mental Health Legal Representation Project.

Catriona Phillips

Job Titles:
  • Communications Manager

Claire Osborne

Job Titles:
  • Senior Solicitor
Claire joined Clan in October 2019 as a solicitor. She completed most of her traineeship at a large full-service firm before finishing it off at a busy legal aid firm practising in asylum, immigration and human rights law. She has worked with vulnerable clients, including unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and victims of human trafficking. Throughout her studies and prior to commencing her traineeship, Claire worked with children as a swim teacher for a number of years. Through this work, she developed a passion for working with children and young people. Claire has also volunteered at the University of Strathclyde Law Clinic and is currently a member of the Law Society of Scotland's Access to Justice Committee. She is passionate about social justice and human rights, particularly children's rights, and is excited to have joined the team at Clan. In her spare time, Claire enjoys travelling, hillwalking and live music.

Debbie Shannon

Job Titles:
  • Office Manager
Debbie joined Clan Childlaw in January 2021 as a Legal Support Co-ordinator and moved to the role of Office Manager in September 2022. Debbie spent over 20 years working in the financial sector mainly in Operations and Training functions before working as a Law Accountant preparing Legal Aid and Judicial accounts over the past 10 years. In her spare time, Debbie enjoys horse riding, travelling and spending time with her family.

Erika Kotyuk

Job Titles:
  • Administrative Support Assistant
  • Clan As an Administrator
Erika joined Clan as an Administrator in March 2022. She is passionate about people, mental health, psychology, and languages. Erika has a degree in pedagogy and had previously worked in customer service, the travel industry, administration, and the financial sector. During the past five years, she has also volunteered as a conversation facilitator, project coordinator, and befriender. Outside of work, Erika loves hiking, cooking and discovering new places and cultures. She is always up for an adventure.

Graeme Shearer

Job Titles:
  • Training Co - Ordinator
Graeme joined Clan Childlaw in January 2023. Prior to joining the team, he was the Police Scotland training lead for Crisis Negotiators and brings a diverse range of experiences to his new role. He is fan of live music and live sport and spends a lot of his free time indulging these passions.

Jenna Hall

Job Titles:
  • Senior Solicitor
Jenna joined Clan in January 2017 as a trainee solicitor, under the Justice First Fellowship. In January 2019, Jenna finished her training and now works with Clan as a fully qualified solicitor.

Joan McNeill

Job Titles:
  • Head of Operations
  • Head of Operations & Development
Joan joined our team as Head of Operations in September 2021. Her role is all about getting Clan to run as smoothly as possible, supporting the work we do with children and young people and ensuring we deliver on our organisational priorities.

Julia Donnelly

Job Titles:
  • Deputy Principal Solicitor
Julia joined Clan Childlaw in March 2015. Julia studied law at the University of Glasgow and has been a lawyer since 2001. Before she came to Clan Childlaw Julia was a housing lawyer, working to help homeless people get a place to stay and to stop people being evicted. Julia is the Deputy Principal Solicitor and it's her job to make sure Clan Childlaw can keep giving children and young people the legal help they need. Julia is the lawyer who helps young people with housing problems in our Street Legal project. After working for twenty years as a lawyer for people who have experienced and are experiencing trauma, in 2021 Julia became a Law Society of Scotland Certified Specialist in Trauma Informed Practice.

Katy Nisbet

Job Titles:
  • Head of Legal Policy

Lauren Tighe

Job Titles:
  • Solicitor

Louise Herd

Job Titles:
  • Solicitor
Louise joined Clan Childlaw in January of 2020 under the Justice First Fellowship. In January 2022, Louise finished her training and now works at Clan as a fully qualified solicitor. Louise developed an interest in human rights during her undergraduate degree and has completed an LLM with distinction in Human Rights and Criminal Justice. Louise's interests in issues affecting children stem from her time spent volunteering as a children's counsellor in Aberdeen, and subsequent time spent working in a family law team based in Inverness. She also has a strong interest in Immigration and Asylum law. During her Diploma she spent time volunteering in a law centre in Glasgow in their Immigration and Asylum department. She subsequently volunteered with an organisation in Calais who provide humanitarian aid to refugees.

Lucy Frazer

Job Titles:
  • Managing Solicitor
Lucy joined Clan Childlaw in January 2017 after completing her traineeship at a small but busy Glasgow firm. She studied law at Dundee University and completed her diploma at Edinburgh University. Lucy has served as a panel member for the Children's Hearing System meaning she has a unique insight from both sides of the table. Lucy provides legal advice on all aspects of Child Law and regularly attends Court and Children's Hearings with the children and young people we represent. In her spare time she enjoys hillwalking and running with her dog.

Mandy Young

Job Titles:
  • Solicitor
Mandy qualified as a solicitor in 1977 and has worked mainly in local government since then, latterly as Principal Solicitor with Edinburgh City Council until 2003, when she joined Burness, Solicitors, on their PFI team, advising local authority clients. She brings a wealth of experience with charitable companies, both as Director and adviser.

Megan Houston

Job Titles:
  • Administrative Support Assistant
Megan is our administrator based in Glasgow. She joined Clan in October 2021 and had previously worked in admin, secretarial support and marketing roles. Megan is very passionate about working within the third sector and began her journey by becoming a volunteer befriender working to support children and young people. In her spare time, Megan enjoys cosy walks in nature and last-minute weekend getaways.

Neil Collar

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board
  • Solicitor
Neil has been a solicitor for 16 years. He is a partner of Brodies LLP and heads their planning law team. He has extensive experience of law firm management, having been Brodies' Head of Litigation for 5 years. He has also been involved in running a variety of voluntary groups, including a lacrosse team and a wind band.

Pauline McIntyre

Pauline worked as an Enquiries and Policy Officer at the Children and Young People's Commissioner for Scotland Office for several years. Currently she is employed as the Clerk to the Education, Children and Young People's Committee at the Scottish Parliament.

Peter Hastie

Peter joined the Board in October 2017. Peter is a Public Affairs professional for a cancer charity in Scotland, and has worked in public affairs since Devolution in 1999. Working in-house, for lobbying agencies and for senior government figures over the 20 years, Peter's expertise is in Holyrood focused campaigning.

Rachel Farrier

Job Titles:
  • Solicitor
Rachel joined Clan in August 2022 as a solicitor. She was a trainee solicitor in the Scottish Government, and has also worked as a solicitor based in a Women's Aid branch. Prior to qualifying Rachel worked at Clan Childlaw as the Street Legal co-ordinator, and before this worked for nearly 20 years in a variety of charities, supporting people and advocating for them, in particular asylum seekers and refugees. It was working in these settings that inspired Rachel to train to become a solicitor, because she could see that the law could make a difference and sometimes change people's lives for the better. Rachel is really committed to making sure that children and young people are able to use the law to improve their lives. In her spare time, Rachel loves swimming in the sea, running (slowly), gardening and baking.

Rebecca Scott

Job Titles:
  • Managing Solicitor

Sarah Bannerman

Job Titles:
  • Senior Solicitor

Sue Grant

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board
Sue was until recently a solicitor in private practice with Digby Brown, solicitors. She was an accredited specialist in both Personal Injury Law and Clinical Negligence but had a special interest and involvement in adoption of children for over 30 years.

Tamara Levy

Job Titles:
  • Solicitor

Tom Harvie-Clark - Chairman

Job Titles:
  • Chairman
  • General Manager of Strategy and Economic Regulation
Tom is General Manager of Strategy and Economic Regulation at Scottish Water. He qualified as an accountant with KPMG before joining the Scottish Government to undertake roles as an economist and then policy advisor. He previously was the managing trustee of a small grant making trust.

Vicki Straiton

Job Titles:
  • Partner