Morton Fraser
No of Partners: 32
No of Assistant Solicitors: 52
Other Fee Earners: 63
www.morton-fraser.com
After many years of stubbornly remaining an Edinburgh-only firm, 2004 was the year Morton Fraser finally took the plunge and opened in Glasgow, in response to client demand. The office now has 4 full-time lawyers, a figure which the firm expects to grow but the focus of the firm will remain in Edinburgh for the foreseeable future.
One of the key words Morton Fraser uses to describe itself is ‘innovative’. The firm was one of Scotland’s earliest adopters of case management, extranet, document assembly and knowledge management systems, which the firm uses to both aid its mainstream commercial services – banking/finance, commercial property, corporate and employment – and also to operate a significant commodity legal services division, which handles conveyancing, re-mortgaging, debt recovery, mortgage repossession and site agreements for utilities and telecoms companies.
This work, in addition to the mainstream litigation team, which enjoys the patronage of clients such as the Ministry of Defence, adds up to one of the largest litigation teams in Scotland. It achieved this position partly through the acquisition of the litigation and property teams from former Edinburgh rival, Robson MacLean. Morton Fraser now has 32 partners and 115 other fee-earners.
Other clients of the firm as a whole include Scottish & Newcastle, Diageo, HBoS, the Scottish Executive, the Royal Bank of Scotland and Accor. Despite its apparent success in commercial disciplines, Morton Fraser has also retained a substantial private client capability and handles tax, trusts and estates, residential and agricultural property, conveyancing and estate agency and financial planning.
Chief executive Linda Urquhart (incidentally, the first woman to lead a major Scottish law firm) puts Morton Fraser’s growth down to its ability to retain clients.
“Our USP is that we do the job the way the client wants it to be done, not the way that we want do it, and our lawyers have to be alert to the commercial priorities of the clients rather than racking up of hours of work that is no use to the client.”
The firm welcomes dual and English-qualified lawyers, particularly for its asset finance, corporate and property teams which are doing an increasing amount of work in England. It also seems to have a penchant for recruiting lawyers with in-house experience, having taken Lloyds TSB’s Scotland head of legal, Jeremy Fraser; Lorne Byatt, from medical imaging company Voxar; and Graeme Heaton from Sun Microsystems. Wherever its lawyers come from, however, the criteria are the same: “We’re looking for all-rounders who can communicate with clients, not just clever lawyers,” says Urquhart.
|
