MACLAY Murray & Spens (MMS) has elected Kenneth Shand, partner and head of its corporate department, as its new chief executive.
Mr Shand will take the reins from Chris Smylie on June 1, the Glasgow-based commercial law firm has announced.
The appointment comes after Mr Smylie decided to step down at the end of his three-year term.
Mr Smylie, who will work with Mr Shand during the transition period, will resume his duties as a partner in the firm's planning team.
MMS chairman Robert Laing praised Mr Smylie for leading the firm through "a period of unprecedented turbulence".
Mr Smylie carried out a strategic review of MMS while chief executive, which has led it to place more focus on its London city office and serving clients operating on a global level.
Mr Laing said there are signs the move has paid off, stating: "The wisdom of that approach, in the face of many of our competitors advocating retrenchment to Scotland, is now becoming clear."
Mr Smylie's spell as chief executive has coincided with significant consolidation in the Scottish legal scene, with fee levels falling and competition for clients intensifying amid the tough economic conditions.
Notable deals have seen McGrigors merge with Pinsent Mason in 2012, and Dundas & Wilson join forces with CMS Cameron McKenna in December.
Mr Shand said he expects further consolidation will occur, "not necessarily because of problems or difficulties, but because of the opportunities that can come out of it".
He also refused to rule out MMS becoming involved in takeover plays.
Mr Shand said: "There are a variety of circumstances that lead to firms of different sizes coming together. We are open-minded about how we grow.
"We are primarily committed to growing our business in a steady way - that can come in various shapes and forms."
MMS signalled that its fortunes were improving by highlighting a "significant increase in deal flow" at its offices in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and London.
In December it reported it had concluded deals worth more than £2 billion in its last quarter, culminating in the advisory role it played in Aberdeen Asset Management's £650 million acquisition of Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP).
MMS also advised Gatehouse, the Shariah-compliant investment bank, in its £700m joint venture with Sigma to build 600 private homes for rent.
Mr Shand said the second half of 2013 had been "very encouraging" for the firm. He noted growing optimism among clients in terms of the economy, with "more and more talking about opportunities in the pipeline".
However he said the stance being taken at MMS was one of cautious optimism.
Mr Shand noted: "You have to be cautious. With everything we have been through over the last three, four, five years it would be folly to think it will all be sorted with the flick of a switch.
"Steady growth is good for the economy in general."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article