Kenneth Shand, who for over a decade headed one of Scotland's busiest legal teams advising on Scottish corporate deals, now finds himself in the dealmaking hotseat.

Elected last summer as chief executive at 144-year-old Maclay Murray & Spens, the firm which he joined as a trainee, Mr Shand, 54, is the ideal candidate in turbulent times.

On whether Edinburgh-based Maclays may become the next big beast in the Scottish sector to agree a marriage with a bigger beast from across the Border, the lawyer hints that it is far from improbable. "We have to not reject any approaches just because they seem big and scary, we have got to look at what is right for the business and the clients, and where the market is heading."

Maclays was in talks in 2012 with the Bristol-based Bond Pearce, but no deal emerged.

Mr Shand says he is unaware "who called who first" but says: "There does seem to be a move towards scale, particularly in areas like the institutional client base and the larger corporates - more and more of them are going either national or global. As they increase in scale, they are looking for bigger advisory teams...they don't want you just to have one person who can deal with IP, they want a breadth of resource across all areas of commercial life, properly serviced teams in areas like IP, employment, pensions, to support their advisory needs and transactional needs."

He goes on: "I think there is scope to have a larger presence in Scotland."

But if Maclays is involved in consolidation, it will be by choice, he stresses.

"Some of the consolidation that has happened has been out of necessity, rather than a brilliant strategic decision. We would like to think we don't have to do anything, and we certainly don't have to do anything tomorrow or next week - but there could be opportunities. One thing we do know is the time clock ticks on and you can't stand still."

The firm is being "both proactive and reactive" in looking at potential tie-ups, Mr Shand says. "Yes there have been a number of calls, and independently of that we have been considering the market, looking at individuals, teams and larger firms that we think might be some sort of fit."

Does the job carry an extra weight of responsibility at the present time? "Yes it does, but it is not a decision I would be making on my own but one that would be fully considered with board colleagues."

The Glasgow bred and educated Mr Shand went straight from university to train with Maclays, where he was soon immersed in corporate work for some of the firm's oldest clients, such as textile giant Coats Patons, carpetmaker Stoddard, and distiller Edrington. "Maclays was set up in 1871 to serve indigenous Scottish industry, we would have acted for many of the shipping companies and the family wealth, move it forward 100 years and this meant plcs and large private companies." The lawyer was aide-de-camp at Glasgow's stockbroking mergers that followed Big Bang, and also during the colourful corporate battle between broker Carswell and shell plc Bremner, fought out in the city's Central Hotel and elsewhere.

After a stint of less than two years in London, Mr Shand was back in Edinburgh and in 1990 became a partner at 29, stepping up to head the corporate team around 10 years later.

"I had a management role on the corporate side, quite a large team, but I was still very actively engaged in client transactional work, I enjoyed it very much,the connections, the relationships with clients, the ups and downs, the buzz."

As banking boomed, so did Maclays, its headcount rising to over 500. "We did a lot of work for Bank of Scotland on highly-leveraged property transactions, they certainly kept us extremely busy, but that entirely changed in 2008."

The fall-out saw growth in the law firm stall, with turnover off 13per cent and profits down 23 per cent in 2012-13. The firm laid off 34 people largely across its corporate and property teams, and total headcount has shrunk in two years from 387 to 314 - almost 200 below its peak.

But property and regulation work for the banks, the oil service boom in Aberdeen, and a buoyant whisky industry, all helped drive a rebound last year and keep Maclays in the top three Scottish independents. The firm sits just behind Brodies and Burness Paull on turnover, though remains well behind on profits per partner.

Last summer Mr Shand decided it was time for a change. "It was the first time I had put myself forward," he says, adding modestly: " I had somehow morphed into head of corporate whenever it was, that was a little bit of Buggins' turn."

But he followed a line of well-respected former Maclays leaders who came from the corporate stable including Bruce Patrick, Michael Walker and Magnus Swanson. "From my point of view it worked quite well because my kids were essentially away from home." His step-up also gave someone else an opportunity, he is quick to note.

The corporate team meanwhile racked up deals worth just over £1bn last year, making it the leading major independent player by deal value.

Mr Shand's team management and people skills in the corporate world are now deployed for the benefit of the 410-strong firm. "I spend a lot of time chatting to people, not just the partner group but more widely. We are doing the business plan for the next financial year and getting people involved and up for that process is something I can encourage."

The firm is continuing to recover strongly from its post-crash dip in its current year, seven months in, the chief executive says. "We are very happy with our performance."

He stresses: "If we were to achieve further growth, our preference would be for a deal positively constructed...we have always been conservatively run, we have a very good business, a stable business, a great client base, great people, so we have a great opportunity."