Brodies announces raft of promotions

Angela McCulloch, David Lightbody, Elaine Petterson, Jane McMonagle and Louise Kelso step up to partner in their respective areas of personal & family; corporate; real estate; energy & infrastructure and insurance & risk.

The announcement brings the number of partners at Brodies to 97 and coincides with the promotion of eight managing associates and 14 associates across its Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow offices in the areas of banking; business disputes & asset recovery; commercial property; corporate; employment; energy & infrastructure; insurance & risk; land & rural business; personal & family; public law, regulatory & competition; residential property and tax.

Brodies’ managing partner, Nick Scott said: “The individual efforts and contribution that each of our newly promoted colleagues has made to our clients and our firm is recognised today. I wish them all the best in their new roles.

“These promotions mark the first down payment on the investment in our people that we are committed to make as we implement our strategic plans for the period to 2021. The breadth of sectors represented in these promotions also demonstrates the resilience of our clients, and the opportunity that remains for well-run independent law firms.”

Ms McCulloch, who specialises in private client work, said: “The support I have received from partners, particularly those in the personal & family team as well as the wider firm, has helped me achieve my ambitions and I am delighted to become a partner.

“As I embark on the next chapter of my career at Brodies, I am looking forward to working with and for our clients to provide innovative solutions for their personal needs, and with my fellow Partners to deliver our exciting and ambitious strategic plan.”

Mr Lightbody, who has been with Brodies for more than 10 years where he started as a trainee, said: “This is a particularly exciting milestone for me, having joined Brodies as a trainee and built a practice over the years servicing clients in Scotland, the wider UK and beyond.

“With the firm and the corporate team continuing to go from strength to strength, I’ve benefited hugely from the opportunities for progression that being part of this firm has given me. I look forward to building on that success as a member of the partner team.”

In addition to senior promotions, the firm has retained 13 of its trainees as newly qualified lawyers and is looking for a further 12 to join its newly qualified ranks in the autumn. Since 1 January 2018 the firm has made 56 new appointments, consisting of 29 in legal and 27 in the finance, IT, HR and business development areas of the firm. This takes the total number of people, including partners to 645.