Ethos & Leadership

Welcome to Burness Paull.

Proudly based in Scotland, we work with leading organisations across the UK and internationally.

Clients tell us they appreciate the breadth of our legal expertise, the depth of our talent and, crucially, the down-to-earth personality of our people.

As a truly independent law firm operating in a fast-moving and challenging global landscape, we have complete license to shape our culture and determine our values in a way that sustainably supports the needs of our people, our clients, our wider community and the environment.

Leadership

Peter Lawson - Chair

As chair of Burness Paull, Peter Lawson leads the firm’s strategy board in addition to advising clients on complex corporate transactions.

Peter directs Burness Paull’s successful strategic growth plan and international strategy. He is a passionate champion of client listening and drives the firm’s response to client service and ESG agendas.

His client-facing role sees Peter provide valuable commercial guidance to boards and business owners on sophisticated public and private M&A work.

Peter’s outstanding track record in deal-making is reflected in his listing as a member of the Legal 500 Hall of Fame and band 1 ranking in Chambers Legal Directory

 
Mark Ellis - Managing Partner

Mark is Burness Paull’s managing partner. Together with the chair, he sets and leads the delivery of the firm’s ambitious growth strategy.

He is a leading private equity and M&A lawyer who advises investors, management teams and corporates.

Mark trained with the firm and worked in the City of London with Hogan Lovells and Travers Smith before rejoining us as a partner. He is recognised as a leading individual by Legal 500 and ranked band one by Chambers & Partners.
 
 

Doing business responsibly

We have a responsibility to our people, our clients and our communities, and we take that seriously.

Our focus is on delivering excellence - the best advice and service to our clients. In doing so, we strive to achieve the highest standards of conduct, professionalism and ethics.

Regulated by both the Law Society of Scotland and the SRA, it’s a given that we comply with all applicable laws as well as the professional obligations we have as a firm of solicitors. But we go much further.

We have achieved ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus certification and actively participate in the combat against money laundering through the strictest AML procedures.

Who we act for and do business with is critical to the integrity of our firm. We have a dedicated compliance team who lead on client and matter acceptance, including analysis of potential conflicts, reputational and ESG risks and financial crime and sanctions risks.

We publicly declare our commitment to ensuring modern slavery and human trafficking are not occurring in our business or in our supply chain. Our Modern Slavery Statement is published every year and can be found here.

We are committed to working with suppliers to our business who operate in a sustainable manner and this commitment is set out in our Sustainable Procurement policy and supported by our procurement policies and procedures. This policy outlines the requirement of staff to engage with suppliers on their environmental credentials and encourage environmental best practices. Our supplier management processes form part of our wider risk management framework and support effective supplier oversight. This enables us to monitor supplier risk and sustainability considerations as part of our commitment to responsible business practices. We also expect our suppliers to adhere to our Supplier Code of Business.

Our governance and risk management framework provide a comprehensive view of the risks and opportunities that may impact our business, clients and operations. It supports the ongoing identification, assessment and monitoring of business, regulatory and information security risks, helping us maintain robust controls and drive continuous improvement. 

Our Code of Business covers more detail on these standards and is publicly available.

AI is playing an increasingly important part of doing business. We understand the importance of keeping apace with the growth of AI in legal services whilst maintaining the excellent level of service our clients expect. Where appropriate, we use secure, enterprise-grade AI tools to help deliver more efficient legal services, while maintaining rigorous human oversight, confidentiality and professional judgement. Our approach is guided by robust policies, staff training and a commitment to using technology responsibly.

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