Burness
No of Partners: 34
No of Assistant Solicitors: 57
www.burness.co.uk
Commonly considered to be in the top echelon of Scotland’s middle tier, a frequent observation is that Burness should merge its way into the big league. Despite incessant merger rumours over the years, most recently around DLA Piper, Burness has remained stubbornly independent.
Burness has, nonetheless, grown strongly of its own accord and turnover has grown by 50% since 1999. It appointed 6 internal partners in 2004 and the partnership strength is now 34, with growth being strongest in its Glasgow office.
Burness’ main strengths are its corporate finance, banking, property, employment and dispute resolution expertise, while it also offers media, projects, construction, charities law and public sector law advice to a range of corporate, institutional and public sector clients, including Scottish Enterprise, the BBC, Bank of Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland, SMG, UA Group, Shanks Group and WA Baxter & Sons.
Unlike many other middle tier Scottish firms, however, one area it does not cover is private client. Its 7-partner private client team became part of private client specialists Turcan Connell in 1997, after the firm decided that combining commercial and private client work gave "a mixed message” to the market.
Merger speculation aside, the firm plans to continue to grow, build on its present strengths - and recruit.
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