Stuart Munro is the firm’s Managing Director, and the head of the Specialist Litigation Department.  With over thirty years’ experience, his main interest is in white collar crime and associated litigation. 

Stuart has been involved in many of the highest-profile such cases in Scotland in recent years.  He acted in the leading perjury case of HMA v. Coulson, which produced two hugely significant reported decisions.  He successfully represented the former administrator of Rangers Football Club in a major fraud prosecution, and the malicious prosecution case that followed – a decision that led to a fundamental change in Scots law, opening a door to justice that had once been firmly closed.  He represented the first postmaster in Scotland to have their wrongful conviction overturned after the Post Office Horizon scandal came to light, and appeared in the subsequent public inquiry.  He has acted in a number of Supreme Court cases, including the Scottish independence referendum case. 

Stuart is regularly instructed by individuals and corporates in relation to investigations, prosecutions and related matters (such as public inquiries, connected civil litigations, and cases brought under the Proceeds of Crime Act).  He is a solicitor advocate, with extended rights of audience in the High Court of Justiciary, Court of Session and UK Supreme Court.

Many of Stuart's clients are based outside Scotland.  He routinely works in conjunction with legal firms in London and elsewhere.  His involvement in cross-border cases means that he has a strong grasp of the different approaches employed in the different UK jurisdictions.  He has advised clients on the operation of legal professional privilege and the basis upon which warrants can challenged.  He assisted an English company in successfully suspending a search warrant granted in Scotland but enforced at their premises south of the border.  He recognises the very real impact of allegations, prosecutions and litigations on individuals and those around them.  He seeks to understand all issues at hand, and to find effective solutions.

Stuart has a clear strategic focus, an ability to understand complex issues, a strong legal approach, and the leadership skills necessary to command a team of lawyers and support staff working on a significant assignment.  He is ranked Band 1 in Chambers 2025 for both fraud and general crime, the only lawyer in Scotland to be so recognised, and is a Legal 500 Recommended Lawyer. In 2024 he was named Solicitor of the Year at the Law Awards of Scotland.

Stuart sits on the Council of the Law Society of Scotland. He is the Convener of the Society’s influential Criminal Law Committee. In that role he has given evidence to Parliament on proposed legislative changes.  He is a member of the Scottish Criminal Courts Rules Council.  He served on the Lord Justice Clerk’s Restarting Solemn Trials Working Group, which resulted in the introduction of world-leading ‘remote jury trials’ to address restrictions in place during the Covid pandemic.   

He also has a keen interest in technology and its applications in the justice system.  He is a member of the Law Society of Scotland’s Technology Law and Practice Committee.  He spearheaded Livingstone Brown’s move to paperless operation following the Covid pandemic, and is involved in the promotion of similar changes to the justice system more generally.