The Legal 500

Within Corporate and commercial Edinburgh and Glasgow: , Maclay Murray & Spens LLP is a first tier firm,

Kenneth Shand was appointed to head Maclay Murray & Spens LLP’s corporate practice following former practice head Alastair Wyper’s departure to establish his own Aberdeen-based practice (Blackwood Partners LLP). The practice remains well respected for its ‘deep understanding of business and industry’. In 2010, it acted on standout transactions such as Aberdeen Asset Management’s acquisition of RBS Asset Management’s fund management assets and contracts. Brian Moore ‘never complicates things and provides outstanding industry knowledge’.

Within Corporate tax , Maclay Murray & Spens LLP is a first tier firm,

Maclay Murray & Spens LLP’s ten-strong corporate tax practice combines legal and accounting expertise (including four chartered accountants): an attractive proposition for clients, taken in conjunction with the firm’s share schemes expertise. Recent highlights include advising Orkney Islands Council and NHS Orkney regarding a proposed joint venture for the procurement of public infrastructure projects. Gwen Souter leads a ‘helpful, professional and responsive team’, with dual-qualified lawyer and chartered tax adviser Lorna Tutty highlighted for her ‘pragmatic and common-sense approach’.

Within Elsewhere in Scotland, Maclay Murray & Spens LLP is a third tier firm,

Maclay Murray & Spens LLP maintains an active presence in Aberdeen through a three-partner team, which recently advised on PTI Group’s sale of Production Testers International. Roy Roxburgh is recommended. Former head of the firm’s corporate group Alastair Wyper left to set up his own firm in 2010.

Within EU and competition, Maclay Murray & Spens LLP is a first tier firm,

The service provided by Maclay Murray & Spens LLP’s EU and competition team in Glasgow is ‘as good as that which would be obtained from one of the larger practices in London’. Cartel and merger clearance work are key areas of strength, and in 2010 the team advised Stagecoach plc on the Competition Commission’s investigation into the supply of local bus services in the UK. Practice head Michael Dean is recommended, along with the ‘in-depth and attentive’ Catriona Munro.

Within Licensing, Maclay Murray & Spens LLP is a third tier firm,

Maclay Murray & Spens LLP’s clients include House of Fraser and the Hammerson Group. Ewan Easton is the main contact.

Within Commercial litigation, Maclay Murray & Spens LLP is a first tier firm,

Tim Edward heads Maclay Murray & Spens LLP’s commercial litigation group, which has ‘strength in depth and the ability to get up to speed on a case quickly and efficiently’. ‘Tenacious’ tax specialist Ewan Easton advised longstanding client Scottish Widows in a substantial appeal relating to the taxation of life insurance companies, first to the Special Commissioners of HMRC and subsequently to the Supreme Court.

Within Debt recovery, Maclay Murray & Spens LLP is a third tier firm,

In 2010, Maclay Murray & Spens LLP’s debt recovery team, headed by Stuart Reid, acted for an increasing number of intermediaries in the property management and corporate recovery sectors. Key clients include Deloitte, KPMG and Zolfo Cooper.

Within Banking and finance , Maclay Murray & Spens LLP is a first tier firm,

Maclay Murray & Spens LLP’s broad finance expertise encompasses asset, property and acquisition finance. 2010 saw the team act on a mixture of refinancings and leveraged finance transactions, with the former dominating in current market conditions. Highlights included acting for Lloyds Banking Group in the £380m refinancing of Macdonald Hotels. Susan Kelly leads the team, and Chris Dun and Robert Laing are also recommended. Scott Swankie moved to Blackwood Partners LLP in 2011.

Within Insolvency and corporate recovery, Maclay Murray & Spens LLP is a second tier firm,

Maclay Murray & Spens LLP’s corporate restructuring practice is ‘a quality brand’, and is able to leverage the firm’s broader banking and corporate experience, continuing to attract heavyweight instructions. In 2010, the team acted for Bank of Scotland on Cala Group’s restructuring and debt-to-equity swap. Practice head Michael Hughes is ‘a very competent and experienced operator’.

Within Unit trusts, OEICs and investment trusts, Maclay Murray & Spens LLP is a first tier firm,

Maclay Murray & Spens LLP is a strong presence in the area of Scottish retail funds as well as the alternativefunds sector, and in 2010 acted for longstanding client Aberdeen Asset management on its £84.7m acquisition of RBS’ fund of hedge fund and long-only multi-manager business. Key figure Michael Livingston divides his time between Edinburgh and London.

Within Employment, Maclay Murray & Spens LLP is a first tier firm,

Maclay Murray & Spens LLP ‘consistently has the right people in the right place when they ’re needed’. New practice head Amanda Jones has particular expertise in discrimination law.

Within Pensions, Maclay Murray & Spens LLP is a second tier firm,

Maclay Murray & Spens LLP’s department has been involved in advising on the pensions aspects of PFI transactions, and earned instructions from new clients such as Vallourec Mannesmann and McAlpine & Company. Gary Cullen heads the pensions team, in which Juliet Bayne is ‘a highly competent specialist’ who ‘responds promptly’.

Within Professional negligence, Maclay Murray & Spens LLP is a third tier firm,

Maclay Murray & Spens LLP focuses on defendants’ work for insurers and claimants’ work for lenders, and has particular expertise in construction cases. Practice head Tim Edward is an accredited specialist in professional negligence.

Within Regional review, Maclay Murray & Spens LLP is a first tier firm,

Edinburgh and Glasgow: Emerging from three years of economic turmoil, the Scottish legal market looks significantly different to that which rode the crest of the transactional wave in 2007. With no firm untouched by the downturn in transactions, different and competing strategies and goals have emerged. As a result, Scotland’s ‘Big Four’ have moved forward: Dundas & Wilson CS LLP, Maclay Murray & Spens LLP, McGrigors LLP and Shepherd and Wedderburn are still dominant players in Scotland but also deliver a broader capability, offering English law advice in London and across the UK. Brodies LLP is among the vanguard pursuing the Scotland-only strategy, increasing critical mass to provide a full service to the local market. Dickson Minto WS continues to plough a successful furrow in the corporate finance sector; and Turcan Connell is dominant on the private client front. DLA Piper Scotland LLP continues to build its reputation, particularly in corporate restructuring following some key lateral hires, while CMS Cameron McKenna LLP’s Edinburgh offering is also expanding.

Within Agriculture and estates, tier 4

Maclay Murray & Spens LLP’s agricultural team has seen an increase in instructions in areas such as alternative land use and leasing problems. Clients include forestry enterprise companies, major public limited companies with agricultural interests, and leisure companies. Gregor Mitchell heads the team.

Within Charities, tier 4

Maclay Murray & Spens LLP’s charities group is headed by Alan Eccles, who has ‘formidable knowledge and legal expertise’. The team advised on the £300m merger of three Glasgow colleges with charitable status to create City of Glasgow College.

Within Family, Maclay Murray & Spens LLP is a third tier firm,

Maclay Murray & Spens LLP’s family team, led by Noel Ferry, has represented numerous high-net-worth individuals in divorce cases, often involving complex share options. Roger Mackenzie has ‘excellent depth of knowledge regarding divorce matters’.

Within Personal tax, trusts and executries, Maclay Murray & Spens LLP is a second tier firm,

Maclay Murray & Spens LLP has a ‘consistently excellent’ private client practice. Team head Eleanor Kerr is recommended; Norman Kennedy ‘shows sound common sense, and gives good, practical advice’; and Andrew Biggart is ‘an exemplar of the art of robust, personal legal advice’.

Within Energy (excluding oil and gas), Maclay Murray & Spens LLP is a second tier firm,

Maclay Murray & Spens LLP’s transactions-focused renewable energy practice is headed by David Cruickshank, who joined from Barclays Capital in 2010, while Michael Dean heads the energy regulatory group. The energy group as a whole exhibits ‘good industry knowledge, and seeks to be innovative while remaining commercial’. In 2010, it advised The Combination of Rothes Distillers on a biomass plant in Morayshire. Brian Moore has ‘a very user-friendly and commercial manner, and is an excellent sounding board on corporate M&A activity’.

Within Oil and gas, Maclay Murray & Spens LLP is a third tier firm,

Aberdeen-based Uisdean Vass heads Maclay Murray & Spens LLP’s oil and gas practice. His particular expertise in Latin American markets is supplemented by the oil and gas expertise of Richard Cockburn, who joined in March 2011 from Shepherd and Wedderburn.

Within Projects, Maclay Murray & Spens LLP is a second tier firm,

Highlights for Maclay Murray & Spens LLP’s projects practice included advising Aviva on financing the £50m Moray Schools project, as well as acting as Scottish counsel to Veolia Water on its acquisition of United Utilities’ unregulated water interests in the UK and Europe. Euan Wilson and Rod Munro are recommended.

Within Education, Maclay Murray & Spens LLP is a second tier firm,

Maclay Murray & Spens LLP advises on a wide range of matters including construction projects and commercialisation of IP. Hilary Kane heads the group, which was appointed by Central College Glasgow to advise on the City of Glasgow College merger.

Within Local government, Maclay Murray & Spens LLP is a third tier firm,

Maclay Murray & Spens LLP’s public sector group ‘appreciates the obstacles to acting on advice which can occasionally arise in local government’. It won panel appointments to the City of Edinburgh Council and East Renfrewshire Council. Amanda Jones is ‘prompt and willing to go the extra mile’.

Within Parliamentary and public affairs , Maclay Murray & Spens LLP is a second tier firm,

Michael Dean leads Maclay Murray & Spens LLP’s parliamentary and public affairs team, which sits on legal panels of the Scottish government and the UK government (OGC Buying Solutions Legal Service).

Within Commercial property: Edinburgh and Glasgow, Maclay Murray & Spens LLP is a first tier firm,

Maclay Murray & Spens LLP fields a ten-partner commercial property team across its Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen offices, led by Gordon Aitken. Clients include Dubai World, Edinburgh Quay Limited, and Holland & Barrett. The team acted for the administrators of Kilmartin and associated companies on the disposal of 76 properties across the UK.

Within Construction, Maclay Murray & Spens LLP is a second tier firm,

Mark Macaulay’s construction team at Maclay Murray & Spens LLP has ‘an excellent grasp of 
the law and an ability to articulate complex arguments in writing as well as any other firm in the 
marketplace’. The ‘user-friendly’ Jonathan Broome, who has a ‘first-class legal mind’, acted for the provider of newbuild schools in disputes and adjudications relating to its sites.

Within Elsewhere in Scotland, Maclay Murray & Spens LLP is a second tier firm,

Fraser Leslie leads Maclay Murray & Spens LLP’s commercial property practice, which advises clients including Sumitomo Corporation, Duncan Farm and AF Gruppen ASA.

Within Environment, Maclay Murray & Spens LLP is a first tier firm,

Maclay Murray & Spens LLP’s ‘quality of service is exceptional’. Headed by Chris Smylie, the team continued to advise Masterton Demolition on its acquisition of a heavily contaminated site at Grangemouth from global plastics manufacturer SABIC.

Within Planning, Maclay Murray & Spens LLP is a second tier firm,

Maclay Murray & Spens LLP fields an ‘experienced planning team that can quickly get up to speed’. It advises a sizeable client base of developers on major project matters, including the South East Ayr Major Growth Area. Scotland planning head Gillian Simpson provides ‘sound and clear-cut advice’; and Chris Smylie heads the English law practice.

Within Property litigation, Maclay Murray & Spens LLP is a first tier firm,

Ewan Easton heads a broad property litigation practice at Maclay Murray & Spens LLP, ranging from boundary disputes to industrial sites issues. Recent highlights include acting for Junction Limited Partners on issues relating to its billboards in Glasgow.

Within Social housing, Maclay Murray & Spens LLP is a second tier firm,

Chris Dun’s social housing team at Maclay Murray & Spens LLP advised RBS, Lloyds TSB and Nationwide Building Society on the restructuring of loan facilities to Dunedin Canmore.

Within Intellectual property, Maclay Murray & Spens LLP is a first tier firm,

Maclay Murray & Spens LLP’s ‘outstanding’ IP practice is the ‘first and only stop’ for many clients. The team is acting for DES Operations and Cameron in a patent entitlement and trade secret case in the Court of Session. Practice head Gill Grassie and Alison Bryce, who heads the team’s non-contentious practice, are highly recommended.

Within IT and telecoms, Maclay Murray & Spens LLP is a second tier firm,

Maclay Murray & Spens LLP’s Alison Bryce is leading advice to Integrated Environmental Solutions on four technology strategy board collaborations. Gill Grassie heads the group, which has successfully attracted new clients including Scotserve, ASCO and Credosoft. Robert Buchan has been promoted to partner.

Within Transport, Maclay Murray & Spens LLP is a third tier firm,

Maclay Murray & Spens LLP handles matters in the rail, road and marine sectors. The team, led by Mark Macaulay, is on the legal panels of Network Rail and Transport Scotland, and has been advising client Stagecoach on the CC inquiry into local bus markets.