A merger of three leading Tayside and Fife law firms is set to create a major new force in the legal sector in Scotland.
The enlarged business – which will be a serious rival to the dominant Central Belt legal firms – brings together Tayside’s existing largest practice in Dundee-based Thorntons with Murray Donald of St Andrews and Cupar’s Steel Eldridge Stewart.
The new firm will trade as Thorntons and with 40 partners and more than 400 employees will be the single biggest law firm in east Scotland.
The business will have a joint turnover approaching £20 million – a figure that brings Thorntons within touching distance of a place in Scotland’s top 10 legal practices based on revenues.
Thorntons joint managing partners Craig Nicol and Scott Milne stressed all three businesses were trading strongly as independent entities and the merger was prompted by a common ambition to grow and develop client services rather than any financial imperative.
“This is very much a strategic merger,” they said.
“As firms we have got the same vision in terms of the service to clients and the expansion of our private client services.
“We have been in discussions for a good number of months now and as businesses we recognised it as the right thing strategically.”
Yeoman Shore headquartered Thorntons – which has been a fixture of the legal landscape in Tayside since 1857 and which established a presence in Edinburgh in 2004 – currently has around 300 staff including 33 partners and is a full service practice.
Murray Donald – which itself was formed in 2005 as a result of the merger of two law firms – has two offices in St Andrews as well as a presence in Anstruther and Cupar and is a major player in the Fife property market and in the agricultural sector. Cupar-based Steel Eldridge Stewart is the smallest of the three practices involved in the merger and is involved in court work as well as property services.
The move will give the two Fife firms access to Thorntons’ strong administrative network, which operates in support of its legal partners, and will allow their senior staff to spend more time developing client relationships and services.
For Thorntons, the merger gives a strong foothold into the Fife property market which has been buoyed in recent years by the strong performance of St Andrews and the towns of the East Neuk.
“Bringing the three firms together will strengthen our position in the market and our full service legal offering will have a positive impact on our clients and the enlarged business,” Thorntons chairman Jack Robertson said.
“The three firms have leading and complementary property, family, private client, agricultural, court and commercial operations and together the new firm will have an even stronger presence in these sectors.
“One of the main reasons this merger makes sense is that all three firms are committed to providing clients with an exceptional, personal service and that will remain our focus.”
No jobs will be shed as a result of the merger and Murray Donald senior partner John Leith said the future focus was on growth.
“This merger has been in the pipeline for some time. All three firms have a huge amount of respect for each other, and share common values and priorities, including a desire to grow.
“We couldn’t be more pleased with the enthusiastic response from partners, employees and clients to our merger.”
Hilary Eldridge, partner of Steel Eldridge Stewart, added: “We are confident the new Thorntons will provide unrivalled strength and depth in the east of Scotland and we will all be working together over the coming months to ensure a smooth transition for clients and staff.”