Led by 'expert in his field' Richard Smith, the team at Burness Paull LLP handles matters ranging from high-profile, high-value divorce settlements to emergency child relocation cases. Cross-border family and relationship breakdown matters and pre-nuptial agreements also feature in the team's workload. Jennifer Wilkie is a key contact for high-net-worth clients, while David Coutts specialises in high-conflict child law cases. Nilah Ulhaq and Anna McCorquadale are 'outstanding' key names in the team.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- ‘Richard Smith is hugely experienced and technically able. He is committed to a conciliatory negotiating stance in the first instance, when in the best interests of his client, but will proceed to court as soon as it becomes clear that this is necessary. He has an excellent reputation and is recognised as a heavyweight in Scots family law. David Coutts is a talented senior associate who runs his own caseload, including Court of Session matters, in addition to assisting partners.’
- ‘Richard Smith is a calm, competent and able practitioner. Jennifer Wilkie is impressive in dealing with difficult commercial issues. Senior associate David Coutts addresses difficult issues with a lively intelligence.’
- ‘Jennifer Wilkie is thoughtful and interested in making family law better for all concerned - clients and lawyers alike - she often takes the lead in initiatives to this end. David Coutts is a pleasure to deal with and is excellent in both client handling and getting to the nub of the matter succinctly and sympathetically Richard Smith is very good at what he does - he excels in complex HNW cases and is extremely efficient and at the same time.'
- ‘Richard Smith is an expert in his field who combines high technical competency with a caring and pragmatic approach. Response times are always quick and communications are always clear.'
- 'Nilah Ulqah and Anna McCorquodale provided an excellent supporting service, taking on parts of the process that Richard assigned to them. Overall, I am very pleased to have worked with Richard and his team. Their work led to a result that makes mine and my family's lives much better, and we are very grateful for this.’
- ‘I worked with Richard Smith, Nilah Ulhaq, and Anna McCorquodale. I received an outstanding service from them. Richard is extremely knowledgeable, very accessible, and very pleasant and reassuring to work with. I had a strongly adversarial case, and Richard was excellent in exploring and understanding my case. He provided excellent advice on the range of options and on the best path towards a successful outcome.'
Lawyers
Hall of Fame
The lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and clients for their longstanding involvement in market-leading work.
Leading associates
Leading associates with regular involvement in their team's key work, and recognition from peers or clients as being ones to watch.
David Coutts
Practice head
Richard Smith
Other key lawyers
Jennifer Wilkie; David Coutts; Nilah Ulhaq; Anna McCorquadale