Andrew Colman

A leading junior of great intellect and experience, held in high esteem for his fairness and integrity, and his particular ability to cut through complex issues of fact or law in order to get to the heart of the matter.  He now practises exclusively in the field of professional discipline, applying his expertise to the defence and presentation of disciplinary proceedings before the General Medical Council, General Dental Council and other regulators.  Having developed his expertise largely acting for regulators, he is now increasingly in demand to defend in serious fitness to practise hearings.

Over the past seven years he has built up an impressive reputation in this field, deploying the skills of advocacy, honed in the highest levels of criminal practice, to great effect in mounting submissions and the cross-examination of witnesses. He is recommended as a leading junior in Professional Discipline by both The Legal 500 and Chambers UK.  The latter describes him as "an extremely intellectual and academic lawyer whose experience is highly valued".  He is also said to be admired by clients for being "flexible in his approach and always taking a very sensible stance."

He has been instructed in some of the most serious and complex Fitness to Practise hearings to come before the General Medical Council.  For example, he was recently entrusted with the presentation of the GMC's case against the former Chairman of the BMA.  He is also called upon to appear in the High Court, especially where questions of law need to be addressed.  He is well equipped for such work by his previous experience of appellate advocacy including cases before the Privy Council and the House of Lords, and his history of practice in extradition.

He often lectures and writes articles on regulatory matters - he was a speaker at last year's ARACS Disciplinary conference – and has trained GMC Panellists, Performance Assessors and other advocates.

Professional Discipline