Michael Upton was called to the Scots Bar in 1991. He has a civil practice as an arbitrator and advocate, with extensive experience of commercial, contractual, company, agricultural, property, planning, reparation, tax and public-law disputes. From 1994 to 2004 he was sole defence counsel for the State of Libya in Pan Am v. Libya, the largest claim for damages in Scots legal history. In 2002 in the House of Lords with Richard Keen, Q.C., he represented the Scots hereditary peerage in their challenge to the reform of the Lords. He successfully defended the first man to be accused of selling beef on the bone. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a qualified Mediator accredited by the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution, and the Examiner for the Law Society of Scotland's training course for candidates to be Solicitor-Advocates with Civil Rights of Audience. He has represented amongst others Abbey Legal Protection, Aberdeen City Council, Angus Council, Aviva Insurance, Barratt Group, Carillion Construction, Edinburgh City Council, J. & E. Shepherd, David Wilson Homes, Dong Energy, Dundee City Council, the D.V.L.A., Fife Council, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, Glasgow Housing Association, Mrs. Ann Gloag, Grampian Housing Association, Grangemouth R.F.C., Greenpeace, Hamilton Academical F.C., Henderson Loggie C.A., H.M.R.C., Highland Council, John Lewis p.l.c., the Rt. Hon. the Countess of Lindsay, Lloyds Bowmaker, Marks & Spencer, Modern Housing, Moray Council, Norwich Union, Payment Protection Scotland, Quantum Claims, Raith Rovers F.C., Ross Harper & Murphy, Scottish Borders Council, Scotia Homes, the Scottish Creel Fishermen's Association, the Scottish Legal Aid Board, Scottish Water, South Lanarkshire Council, Stirling Council, Story Homes, Strathclyde Fire Brigade, Swiss Bank Corporation, the Scottish Down’s Syndrome Association, the Scottish Solicitors' Discipline Tribunal, Tayside Contracts, Tayside Regional Council, the Tay Road Bridge Joint Board, Wemyss Estates, Westerton U.K. Ltd., and Ueberseebank of Zurich.