The Right Hon Lord Pentland (Paul Cullen)

Lord Pentland was appointed as a Senator of the College of Justice in November 2008.  Between 2014 and 2018 he was chairman (part-time) of the Scottish Law Commission.  He was elevated to the Inner House in July 2020.

He was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1982 and became a Queen’s Counsel in 1995. He served as an advocate depute between 1991 and 1994.

In 1995, he was appointed Solicitor-General for Scotland and held this office until the general election in 1997. He then returned to practice at the Bar, specialising in commercial and public law.

Earlier in his career, Lord Pentland was standing junior counsel to the Department of the Environment in Scotland. He also held appointments as Chairman of the Police Appeals Tribunal and as Chairman of the Appeal Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland. Between April 2001 and May 2002, he was Chairman of the Public Inquiry into a serious incident of limestone mining subsidence in the Gilmerton area of Edinburgh.

Following his elevation to the Bench, Lord Pentland was appointed in 2010 as a part-time member of the Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber). He has also been an intellectual property Judge.