Duncan William McNair, KHS is a commercial and corporate litigation lawyer, author and charity campaigner, the youngest of seven children of Squadron Leader (and Acting Wing Commander) Robin McNair, DFC and Bar, and his wife, Estelle (née Townsend), who was a great-niece of Surgeon-General Sir Edmond Townsend KCB CMG.

Life and career

McNair was educated as a State Scholar at St Benedict's School, Ealing and at the University of Bristol, where he was Vice-President of the University Debating Union. He has practised City oriented litigation at Lovells (now Hogan Lovells), at Lawrence Graham LLP, and, since 2019, at Spencer West LLP,[1] specialising in major commercial and corporate litigation and public law cases, domestically and internationally, and contested wills and probate cases involving substantial estates.[2]

Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill

In 2011 McNair acted for the successful third party interveners in A, B & C –v- Republic of Ireland, before the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).[3] This was a landmark case in which the court dismissed a wide range of complaints by A, B and C, who had claimed lack of access to abortion facilities in Ireland. In light of the ABC case, the Irish Government introduced[4] the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill to detail the circumstances under which abortions in Ireland could be legally performed. This passed into law in July 2013.[5]

Other notable cases

In 2012 he acted for successful interveners in BPAS –v- Secretary of State for Health, in the Administrative Court in London.

He was named respectively both "Lawyer in the News" (Law Society Gazette) and "Lawyer of the Week" (The Times) for his successful conduct of these cases.[6]

In 2015 he led a large team of lawyers in an international abuse of dominant position action against Rolls-Royce.

The McNair Inquiry and Report

In 2012 McNair was appointed by the RSPCA to chair a national review of its Freedom Food scheme.[7][8] Serving on his panel were former Cabinet minister and Secretary of State at DEFRA, the Rt Hon (now Dame) Caroline Spelman (MP), and Prof. David Main (BVetMed, PhD, MRCVS), Reader in Animal Welfare and Behaviour at the University of Bristol Veterinary School. Evidence was taken from all areas of animal food production, distribution and retail and from numerous interested parties.[9] The McNair Report was presented in May 2013. Its recommendations were unanimously approved by the Council of Trustees of the RSPCA the following month. The RSPCA later announced it was formulating a strategy to build on the recommendations of the McNair Report [10] which formed the basis of their RSPCA Assured scheme. The scheme is dedicated to the better welfare of hundreds of millions of farmed animals across the UK and is influential upon schemes affecting many billion farmed animals across the world.

Charity work

McNair undertakes extensive pro bono charity work, especially in the field of local communities and animal welfare. In 2015 he founded Save The Asian Elephants, a coalition of politicians, academics, lawyers, field experts and campaigners working to protect the Asian elephant from abuse and extinction.

In 2023 STAE was named amongst the 10 best charities in the world for the impact of its work for elephants.[11]

He also speaks and publishes widely on issues relating to animal welfare in the context of food production, distribution and retail and problems associated with livestock supply chains.

McNair is active in various initiatives to help local communities and schools.

Honours and awards

Duncan McNair was appointed a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre (KHS) by the Roman Catholic Church in 2002.

Books

McNair has written two books, The Morello Letters – Pen pal to the stars[12] and More Morello Letters – Pen pal to the superstars[13] under the pseudonym of a fictional Italian immigrant, "Mrs Morello, a lover of all things British", who struggles to understand some of the more idiosyncratic aspects of British life. Both books have been widely reviewed and acclaimed.[14][15][16] In 2012 The Morello Letters was included by BBC Radio 4 listeners amongst their funniest books ever in Open Book’s Listeners’ Funniest Books hosted by Mariella Frostrup.[17]

References

  1. ↑ "Duncan McNair -Partner - Commercial dispute resolution, Spencer West LLP".
  2. ↑ Blackmore, Nicole (15 December 2013). "My Cyprus mortgage payments went up by 166%". The Telegraph. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  3. ↑ Jonathan Rayner (6 January 2011). "Duncan McNair acted for pro-life campaigners over right to abortion". Law Society Gazette. Archived from the original on 8 January 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  4. ↑ the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill
  5. ↑ Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill passes into law in July 2013.
  6. ↑ "Lawyer of the Week Duncan McNair". The Times. London. 24 February 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  7. ↑ Freedom Food scheme
  8. ↑ "RSPCA urged to maintain and increase support for Freedom Food Assurance Scheme – Interview with Duncan McNair". Yorkshire. September 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  9. ↑ The McNair Report website
  10. ↑ McNair, Duncan. "Independent review of Freedom Food". RSPCA. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  11. ↑ "10 Best Charities for Protecting Elephants (Complete 2024 List)". Impactful Ninja. 12 June 2021.
  12. ↑ The Morello Letters – Pen pal to the stars, Harper Collins, 2006; ISBN 978-0007241231
  13. ↑ More Morello Letters – Pen pal to the superstars, Harper Collins, 2011; ISBN 978-0956342225
  14. ↑ "Banana Trouble" [book review], Accountancy Age, 19 October 2006. Business Source Complete; last accessed 29 August 2013
  15. ↑ "The King of the spoofs" [book review], The Evening Post (Nottinghamshire), 9 September 2006: pg. 18, Newspaper Source Plus; last accessed 29 August 2013.
  16. ↑ "Bishop and Lord Mayor 'booked'" [book review]. Coventry Evening Telegraph (England), 16 December 2006: 2. InfoTrac; last accessed 29 August 2013
  17. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - Open Book, Open Book Listeners' Funniest Books". Bbc.co.uk. 12 January 2012. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
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