SHEPHERD and Wedderburn has elected Gillian Carty as its new chair.

Ms Carty will work closely with fellow partners and Andrew Blain, managing partner, to chart strategic direction over the next three years, the company, said.

Ms Carty joined Shepherd and Wedderburn as a trainee solicitor in 1993 and became a partner in 2001, is “highly regarded in the Scottish insolvency market”, specialising in insolvency and finance-related litigation, and will continue to advise clients after assuming the role of chair.

She is also a licensed insolvency practitioner and is accredited by the Law Society of Scotland as a specialist in insolvency law.

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Before her appointment as chair, she led the firm’s commercial disputes and regulation division and, as a board member, sponsored the firm’s people strategy, taking a particular interest in furthering diversity and inclusion initiatives and chairing the firm’s corporate social responsibility committee.

Ms Carty succeeds Paul Hally, who was first elected chair in 2014 and has stepped down after serving two consecutive terms.

She said: “Paul has led by example, mentoring many young lawyers who have gone on to build successful careers in private practice and with many of our clients. We are a people business and that commitment to identifying and nurturing talent and encouraging diversity is fundamental to what we do and our ability to meet and, indeed, exceed our clients’ expectations of us. It is a privilege to have been elected to the role of chair and I look forward to working with my partners, colleagues and clients.”