Our Expertise

Our expertise and ability to provide high quality legal services, and as an investor in the advancement of our Partners and staff, have led to us achieving a number of accreditations and recognitions.

 

Chambers & Partners and Legal500 Rankings

   

A number of our teams have been recognised by the two leading client guides, Chambers & Partners 2018 and Legal500 2017:-

Corporate / M&A - "They give sound, practical advice at a reasonable price".  Notable practitioners include Ken Long, a "very experienced partner whose knowledge of how to best structure deals is invaluable", Graham Bell and Colin Millar. 

Charities - Notable practitioners include Graham Murray.

Energy & Natural Resources -  "Another bedrock of the work is in the property-related aspects of renewables projects, with the work being led by practice head Andy McFarlane."

Franchising - "They have done a fantastic job for us.".  Notable practitioners include Angus Macleod and Martin O'Neill, who "is a good listener and gives practical advice as well as legal opinion." 

Planning - "Very responsive to client requirements and extremely competent in planning and regulatory matters".  Notable practitioners include Fraser Gillies who "has very good overall knowledge and the ability to identify issues and present a number of options, considering both the project risk and viability perspectives." 

Real Estate - "We are very satisfied with the quality of service". Notable practitioners include Colin Brass.

 

STEP Accreditation

     

We have been awarded STEP’s Gold Employer Partner accreditation in recognition of our technical expertise and dedication to providing learning and development opportunities for our private client and family business teams.

STEP is the worldwide professional association for lawyers, accountants and other trust and estate specialists who have completed additional STEP qualifications to become trusted expert advisers to families on matters such as wealth planning, family business issues, wills and executries.

We are one of just 20 employers throughout the UK, and one of only 3 based in Scotland, to be involved in the pilot of the STEP Employer Partnership Programme, which was launched at the end of 2014. 

 

Law Society of Scotland Accredited Specialists

Individuals within the firm have been recognised by the Law Society of Scotland for their long-standing expertise in their specialised areas of practice, including:-

Planning Law - Fraser Gillies

Employment Law - Martin Stephen

Family Law and Family Mediation - Tom Quail

Trust Law - Ian Macdonald