New leaders step up as Brodies prepares for the future

UK top 50 and leading Scottish law firm Brodies LLP has announced several significant promotions as it prepares to implement its new strategic plans.

Setting the course for the firm's 2024 to 2027 strategic period are the appointment of Stephen Goldie as managing partner and the promotions of Louise Shiels and Marion MacInnes as new practice area leaders for its disputes and banking and finance practices, respectively.

Stephen Goldie will succeed Nick Scott as the firm's managing partner, commencing 1 May 2024.

Nick's second term of office comes to an end in April 2024 as the firm's current strategic cycle concludes. He has made the decision to retire from the partnership, and the law, with the firm's partners electing Stephen Goldie as his successor.

After a traineeship at Clifford Chance in London, 32 years ago, Nick returned to Edinburgh and joined Brodies in 1999, becoming a partner in 2001. He spent 20 years in management roles, as a member of the firm's Strategic Board, as head of real estate and ultimately as managing partner. Nick has led the firm through a period that has seen multiple elections, changes of Prime and First Ministers, and a pandemic which continues to inform the ways we live and work.

Under Nick's leadership, Brodies has made continuous progress, with highlights including the opening of new offices in Abu Dhabi, Inverness and London, overseeing growth in the firm which now has more than 100 partners and 800 colleagues, and culminating in Brodies becoming the first law firm headquartered in Scotland to report annual income of over £100m in the financial year ending 30 April 2023.

Stephen Goldie joined Brodies in 2002. He became a partner in 2007 and took on the role of practice area leader for the firm's litigation practice in 2016. Stephen's leadership of the disputes practice has seen strong growth in its revenues, expanding the breadth of skills that it offers, and has seen it develop its work from its Scots base to the rest of the UK and beyond.

Stephen's vision includes continuing to create a positive working environment for all Brodies colleagues and building on its progress working alongside clients in Scotland, across the UK and internationally.

Aligning with the commencement of the firm's new strategic cycle, partner Louise Shiels will step up to lead the firm's disputes practice, and partner Marion MacInnes will succeed Bruce Stephen as practice area leader for banking and finance.

Brodies managing partner, Nick Scott, said: "That I have made the decision to step away from Brodies, and the law, is entirely personal and positive. In the last 32 years I have worked with clients and colleagues who have shaped my career and inspired and guided me. I now plan to spend time doing some of the things which I haven’t been able to do whilst my priority has been our firm and its people.

"I am extremely proud of what our partners and our colleagues have achieved and the work that they have delivered on behalf of our clients. For all of the external marks of our progress, we count the way we look after our colleagues as the most important measure of business success.

"I know that under Stephen's leadership, that progress will continue. His focus on our colleagues, and his experience as a practice area leader, is something he can bring immediately to his new role as managing partner when his term commences in May next year. In Louise and Marion, and our wider leadership team, we have a wealth of talent and experience to shape the future of the firm."

Stephen Goldie, managing partner elect, said: "To be able to follow in Nick's footsteps and have the opportunity to lead such talented colleagues as we commence our 2024 – 2027 strategic plans is a privilege. The progress that we have made as a firm under Nick's leadership has been exceptional. His vision and unrelenting optimism through periods of tumult, have become enduring qualities of our firm and its people, combined with our commitment to deliver excellent legal services for our clients."

Brodies chair, Christine O'Neill KC, added: "In overseeing the elections for our new managing partner, I am confident that Stephen will continue to build on the progress made under Nick's leadership in which he has guided our firm and supported our colleagues and clients through unprecedented times.

"As we prepare to implement our plans for our 2024 – 2027 strategic period, clients and colleagues alike will benefit from Stephen's ambition and enthusiasm and in the skill and experience that Louise and Marion will bring to their respective practice areas. Those plans are full of confidence, speaking of practice areas and business services teams that are excited by the opportunities ahead, and aware of changes that are to come."