Three north and north-east firms have been singled out for special praise in an annual review of the UK’s legal market.
The latest edition of the Legal 500, highlighting who does best in different areas of law in Britain, says Aberdein Considine, Ledingham Chalmers and Stronachs are “highly regarded” outside Scotland’s central belt.
All three firms are based in Aberdeen, with Ledingham Chalmers and Stronachs also operating out of Inverness.
Aberdein Considine has branches throughout the north-east, as well as in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling, Livingston, Perth and Newcastle.
The report says the Scottish legal market is “as competitive as ever”, representing an “interesting” mix of indigenous Scottish and London-headquartered, international firms.
Pinsent Masons, has “strength throughout the team, the document says, highlighting Pinsent’s role at the heart of Ithaca Energy’s £1 billion takeover by Israel’s Delek Group and also the £87 million flotation of Elgin-based Springfield Properties.
Shepherd and Wedderburn “consistently excels” in headline deals such as the sale of Glenallachie Distillery by Chivas Brothers, while the report says private equity work, including transactions involving Aberdeen-based Aquaterra Energy and Ellon-headquartered brewer BrewDog, is a “particular area of strength” for DLA Piper.
Brodies, Burness Paull, CMS and Pinsent Masons are listed as “tier one” firms for corporate and commercial work outside of Edinburgh and Glasgow.
The report also says Burness Paull’s Jamie Stark has “made a name for himself” in oil and gas services.
Brodies’ Douglas Crawford is among “leading individuals”, having led a team of advisers to the shareholders of Aberdeen-based Craig Group on the sale of shipping business North Star to Basalt Infrastructure Partners – “one of the biggest M&A (mergers and acquisitions) deals in Scotland in 2017”.
Mr Crawford was also lead adviser to John Lawrie (Aberdeen) shareholders in a management buyout of the firm.