Frank McKnight has been appointed director and head of private client at the boutique practice, taking responsibility for growing the department while strengthening the leadership team.

Launched in March 2025 Matheson Lawson has grown to a 13-strong team and expanded beyond its original private client and residential property base, including the launch of a commercial property department earlier this year.

Mr McKnight said: “Matheson Lawson is still a relatively young firm and there is real scope to build something here and be involved in shaping it as it grows.

“I already knew a number of people in the team and had heard brilliant things about the culture Maureen and Victoria have created. Private client is right at the heart of the business and that was a big attraction for me.”

Before entering the profession, Mr McKnight worked as a manufacturing engineer with IBM, designing manufacturing lines and helping to establish factories overseas. Following redundancy, he moved into the energy sector with British Energy and trained as a control room engineer at Hunterston nuclear power station.

The father-of-two has joked that his time at Hunterston gave him his own “Homer Simpson” moment. As a control room engineer, he was part of the team responsible for operating and monitoring the nuclear reactor. Despite the very different challenge of moving from computer manufacturing into nuclear energy, he increasingly realised that engineering wasn’t the career he wanted to pursue long term.

At 34, he made another major change, leaving engineering to undertake an accelerated law degree at the University of Strathclyde as a mature student. Law was something he had considered for years, even attending university open days while still working as an engineer, before eventually deciding it was “now or never”.

He went on to build his career predominantly in private client law, advising individuals and families on areas including wills, powers of attorney and executries, with particular experience in complex estates where property, partnerships, business interests and tax issues can overlap.

Maureen Matheson, co-founder and director of Matheson Lawson, said: “Frank has exactly the combination of experience, personality and ambition we were looking for. He understands that private client work is fundamentally about people and relationships, but he is also excited about helping us build something.”