Appointments

Kate Barton has been elected as the next global CEO of Dentons. She will join Dentons from EY, where she has had a distinguished 35-year career in a variety of executive leadership roles, most recently as global vice chair. She will succeed Elliott Portnoy.

Vini Cowden, an energy specialist lawyer focused on electricity transmission, carbon capture and storage, and offshore wind, has become the latest partner to join CMS’s Aberdeen office. She relocates to the Granite City from Glasgow where she has been based since joining CMS in 2001.

Lindsays' private client team in Dundee has welcomed Megan Hainey, who joins as a senior solicitor. Ms Hainey has experience in a variety of private client matters including drafting wills, power of attorney and estate administration.

Thorntons has announced 22 new promotions across its Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Perth, Inverness and St Andrews operations following a year of exceptional growth.

Professor Richard Susskind KC (Hon) has been appointed as the Commonwealth's special envoy for justice and artificial intelligence. The Commonwealth of Nations is an international association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire.

The new lord chancellor was sworn in at the Royal Courts of Justice in London yesterday. Shabana Mahmood MP took her oath on the Quran at Court 4 as Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill welcomed her, along with Attorney General Richard Hermer KC and Solicitor General Sarah Sackman MP to their roles.

Anderson Strathern has strengthened its construction dispute resolution offering with the addition of a specialised team, led by newly-appointed partner Michael Collins and director Mary Frances O’Neill. The four-strong team, which also includes solicitors Gillian Green and Liam McKay, can hel

Solicitor Morag Ferguson has been appointed as a member of the Standards Commission for Scotland for a six-year term. The Standards Commission is responsible for ensuring councillors and board members of devolved public bodies meet the high standards of behaviour that the public is entitled to expec

Hamiltons Law Accountants has strengthened its team with the appointment of Sharron Mullady as a senior administrator. Director David Hamilton said: "With years of extensive experience in administrative roles, Sharron brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to Hamiltons Law Accountants."

Watermans has welcomed its latest cohort of trainees. Rachel Durward, Robyn Lynch, Sonya Imtiaz and Bejna Demir have now all started their journey in dispute resolution. The new arrivals will be based at the firm’s office in Leith.

Qasim Ali has returned to Lindsays as an associate following a spell away from the firm and will be based at its Glasgow city centre offices. Mr Ali was previously a solicitor with Lindsays between April 2021 and August 2023. He has experience in all areas of corporate law, with clients including in

Richard Hermer KC, a barrister at Matrix Chambers and deputy High Court judge, has been appointed as the new attorney general of England and Wales. Born and raised in Wales, he studied politics and modern history at the University of Manchester before being called to the bar in 1993. Following pupil

Family law expert Shona Smith will be joining Blackadders' team in Edinburgh later this month. She brings extensive experience to the firm and has been accredited as a specialist in family law by the Law Society of Scotland since 1999.

Holmes Mackillop has announced appointments within the corporate and wills, estates and future planning teams. Rachel Loose completed a traineeship at Holmes Mackillop focused on corporate transactional work; Sophie Woodside also completed her traineeship at the firm, with a particular focus on will

Professor Frankie McCarthy has been re-appointed as a commissioner of the Scottish Law Commission for three years. A professor of private law at the University of Glasgow, she has been in post first as a lecturer, then a senior lecturer, since 2007.