| Richard Keen QC | |
|---|---|
| Dean of the Faculty of Advocates | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 2007 |
|
| Preceded by | Roy Martin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Richard Sanderson Keen 29 March 1954 |
| Spouse(s) | Jane Anderson |
| Alma mater | University of Edinburgh |
| Profession | Advocate |
Richard Sanderson Keen QC (b.29 March 1954) is a Scottish lawyer and Dean of the Faculty of Advocates.[1]
Contents |
Keen was educated at The King's School, Rochester and Dollar Academy, both prestigious independent schools, and studied at the School of Law of the University of Edinburgh, where he was a Beckman scholar. He was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1980 and was appointed a QC in 1993.
Keen served as standing junior counsel in Scotland to the Department of Trade and Industry from 1986–93, and is chairman of the appeals committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland. He specialises in commercial law, property law and administrative law.
Known as the rottweiler, Keen is the Scottish QC most other advocates least like facing in court. Defending Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, one of the two accused Libyans, at the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial he deployed his legal arguments meticulously. In cross-examination, he spoke towards the Judges rather than the witnesses. Acerbically, Keen asked the prosecution "star" witness, Abdul Majid Giaka, if he had ever heard of a fictional character named "Mitty, first name Walter". When another witness, Edwin Bollier, told a fantastic tale about a mystery man ordering him to take a letter to the American embassy in Austria, Keen asked him if, as he walked the streets of Vienna, he had heard the sound of the zither playing the Harry Lime theme music.
Fhimah was acquitted whilst his co-defendant Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who was represented by William Taylor QC, was convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.
Keen married Jane Anderson in 1978, with whom he has a son and a daughter. His interests include golf, skiing, shooting and opera, and he is a member of the New Club, Bruntsfield Links Golfing Society, and the Golf House, Elie. He is one of the highest earners in Scotland, and lives at one of the most prestigious addresses in Edinburgh, Ann Street, has a small castle in Fife and is passionate about fast cars.