Patience and Buchan

Award winning Patience and Buchan is one of Scotland’s leading family law firms.  Established in 2000 as the first firm in the North East of Scotland to specialise exclusively in family law, the firm is renowned for its expertise in complex and high-net-worth financial cases, as well as cases involving children.

The firm:   Founding partner, Lorna Buchan and Ashley Simpson are supported by Gillian Smith, an associate, who joined the firm as an assistant in August 2016.  Patience and Buchan has created  a bespoke practice where specialist knowledge is applied across the full range of dispute resolution options.   Lorna Buchan and Ashley Simpson are both accredited specialists, qualified collaborative lawyers and accredited family mediators and qualified family law arbitrator.  Ashley is one of only a handful of Scottish solicitors possessing specialist accreditations in family law, child law and family law mediation.

The firm prides itself in providing a highly personal service in family and child law and has a long and continued commitment to alternate dispute resolution, with a range of options in arbitration, mediation and collaboration, all offered in house.  Patience and Buchan has empathetic and knowledgeable staff, with a strong commitment to the firm and to client care.  Each partner benefits from the support  of  an accredited family law paralegal and experienced secretarial staff.

The client base is almost wholly private.  Notwithstanding the emphasis on alternate dispute resolution, all four family lawyers within the firm are highly experienced court practitioners.

The solicitors are committed members of the Scottish Family Law Association.  Having been at the forefront of developing collaborative family law in Scotland, the firm remains committed to the development of collaborative practice with the partners having held successive posts on the local collaborative group committee.

Types of work undertaken: A full range of family services is provided. All aspects of divorce and separation are handled, including financial claims arising from matrimonial breakdown, such as aliment and periodical allowance, division of matrimonial property, pension sharing, claims following the end of cohabitation and a range of issues concerning children. Although many cases involve high-net-worth clients, the firm acts in a wide range of cases where the issues, no matter what the value, can be just as complex.

Child law expertise includes applications for specific issue orders involving taking children to other countries, contact and residence disputes, payment of child maintenance and adoption.

Collaborative family law, involving an agreement between separating couples not to litigate, is also a specialism of the firm. Lorna Buchan and Ashley Simpson regularly act as mediators in both financial and child-related disputes. The firm has extensive experience preparing pre-nuptial and cohabitation agreements.

Ancillary services include preparation of wills and executries and powers of attorney under the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act. The firm also works closely with experts in taxation, accountancy, surveyors, fellow solicitors, advocates, other mediators and counsellors and specialist financial advisers, particularly pensions and financial planning.

Complex work is regularly referred by other legal firms, as are clients seeking second opinions.

Client care is the firm’s cornerstone.  The manner in which Patience and Buchan conduct their cases is just as important as outcomes.

Patience and Buchan Family Lawyers will maintain its focus on providing a highly specialised service to a private base. The firm will continue to grow organically, but does not envisage major expansion that would detract from the highly personal emphasis of its practice.