Major Scottish legal player names new managing partner

The Edinburgh-headquartered firm, which has four UK offices and another in Ireland, confirmed that Andy Hall would succeed Andrew Blain as managing partner from May 1.

Following his traineeship with the firm between 1993 and 1995, Hall specialised in property development where he built a strong and varied practice, becoming a partner in 2003 and assuming the role of head of the firm’s property and infrastructure group in 2013. In that role he is said to have significantly developed the firm’s commercial property practice, which provides legal services for a growing client base around the UK on a wide range of transactions and advisory matters.

Hall said: “Andrew has taken the firm from strength to strength, and I am excited and honoured to succeed him. I have been with the firm since I secured a traineeship here in 1993, and in that time, it has changed dramatically in many ways. Yet the fundamentals have endured.

“They will be the bedrock of our future success as well. I would like to take this opportunity to recognise and thank Andrew Blain for his significant contribution to the firm in his role as managing partner, and for all that he and the firm have achieved during his tenure.”

Blain assumed the role of managing partner in May 2019. Under his leadership, the firm has delivered six consecutive years of revenue growth and a 57 per cent increase in profits.

Over the same period, the firm has grown to 91 partners and strengthened its position in key areas such as clean energy, property and infrastructure, banking and finance, technology and life sciences, and private wealth.

Blain said: “I know that Andy will drive the firm forward with the same vision, energy and acumen with which he has led our property and infrastructure team since 2013, and I look forward to supporting Andy and our board as we look to the future.”

In its most recent results, the firm reported a 10 per cent increase in turnover and a 20 per cent rise in net profits.