THE chief executive of law firm Shepherd and Wedderburn has warned that further turbulence in the legal sector is likely after the firm clinched a deal to buy Tods Murray out of administration.
Up to 50 staff from a workforce of 138 at Tods Murray are expected to be made redundant after its business and assets were acquired by Shepherd and Wedderburn on Friday.
Eighteen have joined Edinburgh-based Shepherd and Wedderburn as partners, five as directors and seven as consultants.
Tods Murray, which had a history spanning 158 years, is understood to have run into difficulties meeting the high maintenance costs of its office in Edinburgh's Fountainbridge.
It became the latest long-established legal name to disappear as the recession continues to take its toll on the Scottish legal scene and follows the mergers of McGrigors with Pinsent Mason and Dundas and Wilson with CMS Cameron McKenna in recent years.
Asked whether he believed further consolidation is likely, Shepherd and Wedderburn chief executive Stephen Gibb said: "I think that's likely over the next while. It's difficult to say exactly where it will be, but the evidence of the last few years is that it is happening, and that it is likely to continue to happen."
He added: "Legal firms are businesses, like any other, and the market has certainly improved over the last while. I think there are some firms out there that are struggling and having difficulties in this market, and there are others that are doing well."
Mr Gibb said the Tods Murray deal was in line with Shepherd and Wedderburn's strategy to compete with the top 30 UK law firms and become the market leader in Scotland.
And he signalled the firm remained hungry for further deals. It will have 564 staff, including 82 partners, when the Tods Murray deal is complete.
Mr Gibb said: "I think we are always looking for the right acquisitions.
"We have a number of potential opportunities out there for [acquiring] teams, for people, and for other deals, so watch this space."
Asked to comment on what attracted Shepherd and Wedderburn to the deal, he said: "We are looking to compete with the top 30 UK firms and we want to be a market leader in Scotland."
A consultation on the proposed redundancies at Tods Murray will begin this week.
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