Digby Brown named Firm of the Year at Scottish Legal Awards

Personal injury specialist legal firm Digby Brown was named Firm of the Year at the 2018 Scottish Legal Awards annual gala ceremony in Glasgow last night, before a record crowd of 450 lawyers.

Securing the judges' preference ahead of Gillespie Macandrew, Innes & Mackay, MBM Commercial and Thorntons, the high-growth firm also took the Community Contribution Award for the £130,000 it raised last year to support those whose injuries require special forms of care.

Lawyer of the Year was Simon Allison, who leads Blackadders' Employment Law team, while Malcolm McPherson, who led HBJ Gateley into merger with Addleshaw Goddard, was named Managing Partner of the Year – an award for which the 12 judges, chaired by Shonaig Macpherson, select their own nominee. In Scotland, recruitment of legal staff since the merger has increased by 15%.

Individual awards were also won by Ruth McColgan of Stirling Council, as contended Rising Star of the Year, and Bilaal Shabbir of MBS Solicitors, as Paralegal of the Year.

Team awards were claimed by Inverness firm Innes & Mackay (Family Law Team – and the firm also took home the Community Contribution Award); Gillespie Macandrew (Corporate Deal Team); Coulters (Residential Property Team); Anderson Strathern (Litigation Team); Skyscanner (In-house Legal team – their third win in four years); the Minimum Unit Pricing Litigation Team (Government Legal Team) and ESPC (Support Team). Adams Whyte was named Criminal Defence Firm of the Year.

DAC Beachcroft Scotland came out top for Excellence in Client Care, and DWF for Innovation in Practice.

At the end of the evening Baroness Helena Kennedy QC was presented in her home city with a Lifetime Achievement Award in celebration of her 40 years of legal service championing civil liberties and human rights.

During her career she has championed law reform for women, especially relating to sexual and domestic violence, developing the defence of battered women's syndrome in the courts. She has also been a leading voice for equal opportunities in the legal profession.

Shonaig Macpherson commented: "It’s been another exciting year showing the great diversity, innovation and skill at work every day in the Scottish legal industry. Alongside my colleagues on the judging panel we have received a large number of detailed entries which have given us great confidence in the sector and in the competition.

"The decisions are never easy but we do spend considerable time debating the merits of every entry in detail prior to making a decision.

"It has been a particular pleasure to see honorary awards in Lifetime Achievement for Baroness Helena Kennedy QC and Malcolm McPherson who collected our Managing Partner of the Year award. Congratulations to all our finalists and winners this year."