Burness Paull lawyers working across the full range of commercial legal specialisms have been recognised in the 2026 edition of the Legal 500 directory – a leading guide to law firms and lawyers in the UK.

The firm achieved 39 practice area and 77 individual rankings in this year’s directory, reflecting the strong market reputation of our teams and the high-quality, complex work they consistently deliver for clients.

The Legal 500 has been analysing the capabilities of law firms across the world since 1987 and its rankings assess the strengths of lawyers and firms in more than 150 jurisdictions.

Its research is based on feedback from 300,000 clients worldwide, submissions from law firms and interviews with leading private practice lawyers, supplemented by scrutiny from a team of 150 researchers who have considerable experience of analysing the legal market.

Peter Lawson, chair at Burness Paull, said: “To have such a strong – and growing – cohort of the firm’s lawyers recognised by Legal 500 reflects the strength and depth of talent we have at all levels, which is key to the quality of our client offering.

“We are grateful to our clients for continuing to place their trust in us and to those who provided feedback to Legal 500, which underpins these rankings.”

Legal 500 Hall of Fame

• Jonathan Heaney (Banking & Finance)
• Richard Rennie (Commercial Property – Edinburgh and Glasgow)
• Peter Lawson (Corporate and Commercial – Edinburgh and Glasgow)
• David Davidson (Corporate and Commercial - Edinburgh and Glasgow)
• Alasdair Freeman (Corporate and Commercial - Elsewhere in Scotland)
• David Morgan (Employment)
• Richard Smith (Family Law)
• Grace McGill (Immigration)
• Paula Kennedy (Investment Funds)
• Colin Hulme (Intellectual Property)
• Bob Ruddiman (Oil & Gas)
• Alan McMillan (Property Litigation)
• Hazel Moffat (Public Sector - Parliamentary and public affairs)

Legal 500 Leading Partner 

• John Kennedy (Banking & Finance)
• Alan Cassels (Banking & Finance)
• Dawn Reoch (Banking & Finance)
• Joanna Fulton (Commercial Litigation)
• Douglas Blyth (Commercial Litigation)
• Gary Moffat (Commercial Litigation; Insolvency and Corporate Recovery)
• Graeme Bradshaw (Commercial Property – Edinburgh and Glasgow)
• Nick Naddell (Commercial Property – Edinburgh and Glasgow)
• Richard Goodfellow (Commercial Property – Elsewhere in Scotland)
• John Strachan (Commercial Property – Elsewhere in Scotland)
• Helen Dickson (Commercial Property – Elsewhere in Scotland)
• Christine Yuill (Corporate Tax)
• Mark Kirke (Construction)
• Mark Ellis (Corporate and Commercial – Edinburgh and Glasgow)
• Chris Gotts (Corporate and Commercial – Edinburgh and Glasgow)
• Catriona Macallan (Corporate and Commercial – Edinburgh and Glasgow)
• Jennifer Skeoch (Employment)
• Peter Ward (Energy excl. Oil & Gas)
• Graeme Palmer (EU & Competition)
• Colin Miller (EU & Competition)
• Lynne Gray (Health & Safety)
• Jamie Kerr (Immigration)
• Michael Thomson (Insolvency & Corporate Recovery)
• Gary Moffat (Insolvency & Corporate Recovery)
• Andrew Christie (Investment Funds)
• Callum Sinclair (IT & Telecomms)
• David Goodbrand (IT & Telecomms)
• Colin Hulme (Media & Entertainment)
• Brian Hemming (Oil & Gas)
• Sarah Phillips (Pensions)
• Margaret Meehan (Pensions)
• Colin McKenzie (Personal Tax, Trusts and Executries)
• Alasdair Sutherland (Planning)
• Ashley Jones (Professional Negligence)
• Gavin Paton (Projects)

Legal 500 Next Generation Partner

• Lynne Gray (Crime: Fraud)
• Claire Scott (Employment)
• Neil Bruce (Energy excluding oil and gas)
• Allana Sweeney (Insolvency & Corporate recovery)
• Ruaridh Cole (Investment Funds)
• Liam Young (Pensions)
• Andrew Forsyth (Personal Injury - Defender)
• Claire MacPherson (Personal Tax, Trusts and Executries)
• Stephen Farrell (Property Litigation)
• Louise Chambers (Social Housing)
• Fraser MacKinven (Sport)
• Stephen Farrell (Sport)
• Andrew Little (Transport)

Legal 500 Leading Associate

• Alan Gibson (Agriculture & Estates)
• Sophie Coffey (Banking & Finance and Energy excluding oil and gas)
• Emma Maxwell (Charities and not for profit)
• Stuart Gardiner (Commercial Property - Elsewhere in Scotland)
• Nicola Williams (Corporate Tax)
• Lynne Moss (Crime: Fraud)
• Rachel McKay (Employment)
• Ruth McNaught (EU & Competition)
• David Coutts (Family Law)
• Amna Ashraf (Immigration)
• Megan Briggs (Intellectual Property and Media & Entertainment)
• Chris Horsley (Projects)
• Louise McErlean (Public Sector - Parliamentary and public affairs)
• David Antonelli (Social Housing)

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