SCOTTISH law firm Lindsays has elected its next chair.

The Edinburgh-based firm has announced that Nina Taylor, a partner in family law, will succeed Peter Tweedie. Mr Tweedie will retire as chairman and a partner of the firm on March 31, though will remain with Lindsays as a consultant.

Ms Taylor’s nomination and election to the role by colleagues comes 11 years after she joined the 209-year-old Lindsays as an associate.

She said: “I am incredibly proud to become chair of Lindsays, a firm with a fine history which demonstrates how our enduring ethos can work successfully with cutting-edge working practices to deliver for our clients and colleagues.

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“I am very much looking forward to the role and, as someone who joined the firm as an associate, I hope that my election highlights the opportunities available for all talent in the legal profession, offering progression and development across all of the areas in which the firm works.”

Ms Taylor added: “It is important to me that we retain our independent Scottish status, while growing within our markets.

“That’s about growth where it is organic and feels natural to do so - where opportunities emerge to work with the right people, in the right places, maintaining the strong values of integrity and independent advice for which the firm has a hard-earned reputation.”

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Mr Tweedie, a corporate and commercial lawyer, has been chairman for the last eight years. During that time, Lindsays has grown through three mergers, the biggest of which came when it joined forces with the former Miller Hendry legal partnership in Tayside last year.

The firm now employs around 340 staff across five offices, in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, Perth and Crieff.

Mr Tweedie said: “It has been an incredibly interesting time to be in the chair, not only through the firm’s growth, but in supporting colleagues to manage the coronavirus pandemic and the evolution it has brought.

“These are all things in which we can take great pride, along with the opportunities we have continued to provide for colleagues to advance their careers through the Lindsays way of thoughtful, informed and tailored legal advice to the people and businesses who entrust us to work with them. Thanks to all of that, the firm has a really strong future.

“I am delighted that Nina will be succeeding me in the chair. She is someone whose own work epitomises our firm’s values. I am sure she will make a real mark on the role. I wish her well in it.”

Lindsays’ managing partner Alasdair Cummings noted: “On behalf of our partners - and the wider Lindsays family - I would like to thank Peter for his wise counsel and steadfast leadership over the past eight years.

“I know I speak for everyone in the firm when I say we are looking forward to working alongside Nina in her new role. She is a fantastic lawyer and a great colleague.”