Who we are
Essentially a family founded firm, Cannons traces its roots back to the1960’s when its founder Frank Cannon first became a lawyer. Frank offered a fresh comprehensive suite of services to clients on the basis of “serving the needs” of the people and businesses who approached him for help. That founding philosophy has remained as steadfast now as it was then. We do not create problems. We solve them.
Frank Cannon
SENIOR PARTNER
Frank has been a lawyer for over 50 years.
Frank holds the degree of LLB from the University of Glasgow, is qualified as a pilot and also speaks French having studied in Paris.
In his time, Frank has carried out every type of lawyer’s work. As a young lawyer, he defended those accused of crime – including cases involving murder and terrorism. He famously defended a man wrongly accused of 26 charges of serious fraud and in which the jury returned 26 unanimous verdicts of “not guilty”. He progressed onto civil litigation, working on cases from negligence to commercial fraud. He is the first UK lawyer to recover damages in the American Courts (in Houston and Corpus Christi, Texas) for widows and children in respect of North Sea oil related fatal accidents. He was involved in the Piper Alpha recovery.
Frank is often called upon to give a second opinion on a wide range of legal matters.
Frank is well known in aviation as he is in law. He flew innumerable missions as an air ambulance pilot from 1975 until 1995 and also carried out transatlantic, and other long distance, ferry flights. He ran an airline in the 1980s before selling this on to others. Frank specialises in Aviation Law and has been called on to act for airlines, pilots and other aircrew as well as flight passengers. He gave advice in the first accident involving overhead lockers when a woman sustained a serious eye injury when a fellow passenger opened an overhead locker and an article fell out, injuring her. He has frequently defended pilots in respect of blame for accidents, especially when they were no longer around to defend themselves.
Nicola is one of his two daughters; the other one being an airline Captain.
Not at all a golf person, when not at the coal-face of the law, Frank likes to indulge in his passion for aerobatic flying and sailing his boat on the West Coast of Scotland.
Frank is married and lives in Glasgow’s West End.
Nicola Cannon
SENIOR PARTNER
Nicola holds the degrees of BA and LLB from the University of Strathclyde. She trained in Edinburgh in all aspects of solicitors’ work, including all work in the Supreme Courts. Nicola has been a qualified lawyer since 1997. She is also a Notary Public.
Mostly, Nicola’s work-load involves commercial property, leases, retail and licensed trade. She is also the firm’s compliance partner. Nicola provides all the drive and enthusiasm for the ethos of the firm, and keeps everyone on their toes – staff, clients and other lawyers alike!
Nicola is married and lives in Glasgow during the week; but her real home (and her heart) is on the island of Mull, at Tobermory, where she tries to live every weekend. Her husband, Robert, a merchant navy officer, is now a marine advisor and also has 20 years of service in the Tobermory Lifeboat crew. Together, Nicola and Robert are responsible for a wee bag of nonsense named Magnus Francis MacLeod (born 2012) and his younger sister Orla Rose MacLeod (born 2015).
“When not working, Nicola and her family indulge in their passion for West Coast sailing. Nicola and Robert have also recently sold their hotel in Tobermory, but continue to own and operate two self-catering properties there, ensuring that providing good hospitality for visitors to Mull, continues to enrich their lives.”
Derek Trainer
SOLICITOR & NOTARY PUBLIC
Derrick graduated from the University of Strathclyde in 1986 and has been involved in the legal profession since 1988. He joined our practice in March 2014 and specialises in all aspects of litigation and property work. As a highly experienced lawyer, he is often thought of as a fountain of knowledge and can find solutions to even the most challenging of legal issues. Derrick hails from Saltcoats and still travels daily.