Pictured: Laura Meldrum (left)
and Anne Macdonald

Ms Meldrum, who until recently was a senior solicitor in the employment law team at Anderson Strathern, joins the firm as a business development associate.

Harper Macleod runs HM Connect, the support and referral network which counts almost 400 Scottish law firms, around one third of all the firms in the country, as members. Ms Meldrum will help Harper Macleod’s team engage with the HM Connect membership across the country, as well as working on wider business development initiatives.

She said: “I am delighted to join the firm and the BD team here, and help to build on the great work that is already being carried out. From the outside I looked at growth and scale of HM Connect over the years as an incredible achievement. It’s brilliant to be part of what is such a friendly & engaged team, providing such an invaluable service to hundreds of fellow law firms and lawyers and being part of such a collegiate network of professionals.”

Ms Meldrum, who was the elected president and executive committee member of the Scottish Young Lawyers’ Association from 2016 to 2018, added: “I love the networking and business development side of the profession and over time found that I enjoyed that more than the black letter side of the law so when the opportunity to be part of this team arose I jumped at it.”

The HM Connect team, headed by partner Anne Macdonald, also includes partner Amy Walsh, lawyer Stephen Vallance, and legal content writer Kate Gillies – all of whom have switched from following the traditional solicitor career path.

Ms Macdonald said: “We are delighted that Laura has agreed to join our team and she is already starting to make an impact. Having people with the experience of being a practising lawyer is invaluable to the service we are able to provide both to our HM Connect members and the teams we work closely with within Harper Macleod. Laura knows the challenges that lawyers face, and also the opportunities we can develop together, and I have no doubt she will be a brilliant addition to the firm.”