SENIOR lawyers at some of Scotland's biggest firms believe further consolidation in the legal market is inevitable during 2015 as cost pressures continue to bite and large clients look for further savings. Many said they would consider deals if the opportunity came up but were not actively looking for them at the moment.

Merger activity in the sector has already seen the disappearance of many famous names in recent years.

In the past 12 months alone Shepherd & Wedderburn acquired Tods Murray out of administration, while CMS Cameron McKenna merged with Dundas & Wilson.

A drive from clients for UK-wide coverage has been behind some of the merger activity while commoditised legal services, in areas ranging from conveyancing and will writing to human resources and employment, has also had an impact.

Bill Drummond, managing partner at Brodies, said: "Further mergers seem inevitable if you look at the past couple of years and listen to what firms are saying about their strategies for their future paths. We will see more domestic mergers and I suspect the trend for takeovers by English-based firms of Scottish ones, which has led to the loss of some well-known Scottish legal brands, may also have a little way to run."

Caryn Penley, joint executive partner for Scotland at CMS along with Stephen Millar, said: "I expect consolidation to continue over the next year, some of which will be planned and some of which will be forced on to firms due to trading conditions within a limited marketplace and a need to manage costs."

Kirk Murdoch, from Pinsent Masons, said: "Clients continue to favour a 'more for less' agenda and major corporates with in-house legal functions are looking to manage fewer, rather than more, legal relationships, and I see those two trends gathering pace in 2015. I believe there will be a number of law firms which may struggle and sadly there is the potential for other failures. While the market is recovering, there are some who have put too many eggs in the one basket or concentrated in too few areas of law."

John Macmillan, managing partner at MacRoberts, said: "Every firm (bar only a very few) must be looking at opportunities in the market to consolidate.

"I expect that virtually every firm is in the market for mergers on one level or another but such a thing will only happen if the circumstances are completely acceptable and appropriate."

Lorne Crerar, chairman of Harper Macleod, said: "There are too many lawyers and too many firms, coupled with new entrants from south of the Border, in a shrinking market."

All of the lawyers questioned expect further merger activity in the coming 12 months with some citing interest from England as well as overseas.

Malcolm McPherson at HBJ said: "I'd expect consolidation to continue indefinitely, particularly as the gap widens between the successful firms which are making serious progress and those which aren't doing quite so well."

Chris Harte, chief executive at Morton Fraser, said: "From transatlantic mergers to local high street tie-ups, consolidation is perhaps better now described as an everyday fact of life in the legal sector rather than a trend. Indeed, one could count on a single hand the number of Scottish firms of any size that have not been involved in some form of merger activity."

However some firms are also starting to work together.

Mr Harte said: "Given how competitive the sector is, we see examples of firms collaborating more on larger projects and joint pitches."

Many senior lawyers expect further pressures on pricing with firms already putting in place more transparent structures and providing fixed fee services.

Advances in technology are also expected to help improve efficiencies.

Encouragingly all the firms questioned indicated they were in the market to add to their workforces at levels ranging from trainee up to lateral hire partners from rivals with Mr Drummond suggesting Brodies would welcome its 600th member of staff in early January.

There appears to have been little impact on the legal sector from the referendum, with only a slight slowing of property and land deals in the weeks leading up to the vote.

Stephen Millar, from CMS, said: "The market did pick up after the result was known when businesses had clarity over the foreseeable shape of the constitutional landscape. The challenge for law firms now is to keep their clients in the frame about both the threats and opportunities which will result from additional powers being devolved to Scotland."

Financial services, construction, property, corporate and infrastructure were among the areas firms are expecting growth from across the coming 12 months.

Philip Rodney, from Burness, said the firm would still be backing its clients in the energy sector in spite of oil price falls. He said: "There is obviously volatility in the oil and gas market, but we are working with clients and assisting them in adapting to the changed environment."

Mr Murdoch said: "There is rightly a slight air of caution over the fragility of the economic recovery, but in generally the business mood is positive."

The long-mooted introduction of alternative business structures (ABS), which allow for non-solicitors to have a stake in a firm, is one issue which has yet to be resolved.

Some lawyers feel this has exacerbated the gap between practices in England and Wales, where a version of ABS has been available for several years.

Mr Crerar said: "In Scotland, our failure to grasp a regulatory structure for ABS continues to be a significant disadvantage against English competitors."

A number of the lawyers expressed cautious optimism on the prospects for the wider Scottish economy.

Mr McPherson said: "I don't think the Scottish economy is going to see tremendous growth, but nor do I think it's going to go into reverse."