Stephen Errol Woolman, Lord Woolman, (born 16 May 1953), is a Scottish legal academic, and a retired Senator of the College of Justice.

Early life

Woolman was educated at

George Heriot's School George Heriot's School is a Scottish independent primary and secondary day school on Lauriston Place in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. In the early 21st century, it has more than 1600 pupils, 155 teaching staff, and 80 non-teaching staff. ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

and studied law at the

University of Aberdeen , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

. He was a lecturer in the Faculty of Law of the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

from 1978 to 1987, serving as Associate Dean from 1981 to 1984. He published the first edition of his work on

Contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...

in 1987, being admitted to the

Faculty of Advocates The Faculty of Advocates is an independent body of lawyers who have been admitted to practise as advocates before the courts of Scotland, especially the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary. The Faculty of Advocates is a constit ...

the same year.

Legal career

Woolman served as Standing Junior Counsel to the Office of Fair Trading (1991 to 1995), the Procurement Executive of the Ministry of Defence (1991 to 1995), and the

Inland Revenue The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation t ...

(1996 to 1998). He was appointed a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...

in 1998 and served as Advocate Depute from 1999 to 2002. He was keeper of the

Advocates' Library The Advocates Library, founded in 1682, is the law library of the Faculty of Advocates, in Edinburgh. It served as the national deposit library of Scotland until 1925, at which time through an Act of Parliament the National Library of Scotland ...

and a trustee of the National Library of Scotland from 2004 to 2008, and chairman of the Scottish Council of Law Reporting from 2007 to 2008. He was appointed Senator of the College of Justice, a judge of the

High Court of Justiciary The High Court of Justiciary is the supreme criminal court in Scotland. The High Court is both a trial court and a court of appeal. As a trial court, the High Court sits on circuit at Parliament House or in the adjacent former Sheriff Cour ...

and Court of Session, the Supreme Courts of Scotland, in 2008, as Lord Woolman. He sat in the

Inner House The Inner House is the senior part of the Court of Session, the supreme civil court in Scotland; the Outer House forms the junior part of the Court of Session. It is a court of appeal and a court of first instance. The chief justice is t ...

of the Court of Session. He also served as President of the Scottish Tribunals, replaced by Lady Wise. He was formerly deputy chairman of the Boundary Commission for Scotland (2009 - 2015). He holds an honorary LLD from the University of Aberdeen and was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2022. He retired in May 2023.

Publications

*''Woolman on Contract'', 1987 (6th ed. 2018) W. Green & Sons. ()

Personal life

Lord Woolman married Helen Mackinnon in 1977, with whom he has two daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woolman, Stephen Errol 1953 births Living people People educated at George Heriot's School Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Academics of the University of Edinburgh Members of the Faculty of Advocates Scottish King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel Woolman

Early life

Legal career

Publications

Personal life

See also

References