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Chambers UK awards Turcan Connell first place in four practice areas

The Chambers UK yearly ranking of law firms in 175 countries has again rated Turcan Connell highly. In our 10th anniversary year, the review has judged Turcan Connell as "one of the UK's premier private client firms...[commanding] a unique position in UK professional services by providing clients with an integrated range of legal, financial and wealth management advice".

The review describes the principal areas of Turcan Connell's work as follows:

Charities, Scotland sole 1st place

The Firm: "Top of the tree in terms of size and volume," this is one of the largest private clients practices in the UK. A predominant charities practice is a natural evolution from this, with clients observing a team "well known for its private client work and how it relates to charitable trusts" as well as one which "goes out of its way to understand charities." The team is large enough to have dedicated partners dealing with trust and investment management, property and employment matters, with clients noting: "It can deal thoroughly with all the issues no matter how diverse." The group also offers the Turcan Connell Charity Office, an outsourced administration service for smaller charities. The team acts for over 300 organisations including large grant giving charities such as the Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland.
The Lawyers: "Leading light" Simon Mackintosh has "enormous empathy for the voluntary sector and knows what it needs." Clients laud his ability to combine "deep knowledge with a customer-friendly manner; he is a great lawyer with a sharp business mind." Mackintosh is credited with a lead role in the formulation of charity law in Scotland. Peers have a lot of time for Douglas Connell who has a "huge knowledge and interest in the charities sector" according to clients. Robin Fulton is, an "approachable, efficient and knowledgeable practitioner" while partner Alexander Garden "gives an excellent service." Peers feel that he has benefited from working under the tutelage of Simon Mackintosh.
Clients/Work Highlights: Highlight matters include establishing 50 new charities over the past year, working on a dual-qualified UK/US charity structure, advising Royal Charters and Petitions to the Court of Session for a number of charities as well as providing ongoing advice to the National Library of Scotland on the structuring of the acquisition of the John Murray Archive. Other clients include The Carnegie (UK) Trust; RSPB; Save the Children; National Galleries of Scotland; WRVS and The Robertson Trust.

Private Client, Scotland sole 1st place
The Firm: One of the largest and fastest-growing private client practices in the UK, this firm is "the leader in Scotland and deserves to be pleased with its success," say clients. The firm fields an extremely high level of focused expertise including six partners accredited as specialists in trust law - a unique concentration of talent in Scotland. Far from resting on its laurels, Turcan Connell expanded the Edinburgh and Guernsey offices in 2006 and announced plans to create a London presence. The firm's family group - which provides wealth management advice to more affluent clients - has been a big success since its inception a year ago and has attracted an unexpected number of high net worth clients. Moreover, clients with international assets (such as the increasing number of families with foreign property) are also drawn to the firm's international capability, which spans residence and domicile issues and cross-border trust and tax planning cases, amongst other matters. The firm was also commended for launching a major campaign to advise thousands of clients on the impact of the Finance Act 2006. The group is regularly referred work by other law firms and financial advisers and also advises major financial institutions on trust and tax law. In addition, the firm has expertise in National Heritage and related tax matters and acts for more than 150 historic houses in Scotland.
The Lawyers: Joint senior partner Douglas Connell has a "very strong reputation serving high-profile clients," sources report. He specialises in trusts and asset protection and also handles charity law matters. Robin Fulton is a leading figure in the sector whose sought-after expertise includes international tax planning, trust work, charities and financial planning. He counts business owners and professional advisers amongst his clientele. Simon Mackintosh is an accredited specialist in trust and tax law and charity law, as well as an expert on estate planning and international trust taxation. Renowned for his charity law work, he heads the firm's charity unit. The "very diligent, very sensible" Ian Clark has been working on the restructuring of non-UK resident trusts, and also specialises in asset protection for high net worth clients, tax planning, succession planning and protection of assets.

Agriculture & Rural Affairs, Scotland joint 1st place
The Firm: The expansionist tendencies of this already "big outfit" have paid dividends with double-digit growth reported for the ninth year in a row. Known for its "uncompromising and hard-line" stance in negotiations and litigations, the team of six full-time land and property partners provokes strong reactions in the agricultural community. The firm caters purely for a private client base that consists of traditional owners of landed estates and historic houses, national institutions and charitable trusts. Unusually, it houses a specialist agricultural litigation unit to prosecute disputes in the Land Court. For non-contentious agricultural law it experienced a busy year preparing around 60 limited duration tenancies and short limited duration tenancies. It also has an edge for crofting matters, recently executing the UK's largest community land purchase on behalf of South Uist landowners in a transaction involving 800 crofters and 60 crofting townships. Lately, the firm's multifaceted knowledge of wind farm projects, led by Jon Robertson, has attracted a flood of instructions from landowners, developers and objectors.
The Lawyers: "Extremely clever" Malcolm Strang Steel holds the prestigious position of convenor of the Law Society of Scotland's rural affairs subcommittee. Jonathan Robertson is a prominent expert on alternative energy schemes, having advised more than 100 landowners on such projects. Peers credit him with "omniscience" in agricultural law and consequently go to him for "specialist questions ." He acts for a major environmental charity and is deeply involved in nature conservation and environmental issues. Sources praise senior partner Robert Turcan 's "wise head" and "good command of strategy" in relation to the negotiation of development option agreements and the sale of farmland for residential developments. Adam Gillingham is an accredited agricultural specialist who is an active member of both the Law Society of Scotland's environmental law committee and the Scottish committee of the UK Environmental Law Association. Senior associate Lewis Kermack is said to have "a very good grasp" of the Scotland Agricultural Holdings Act 2003. As a leading agricultural litigator, he tackles issues arising from succession or failed succession to agricultural holdings, rent review and resumption.
Clients/Work Highlights: The firm represents the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (Scotland) and the John Muir estate. Its high-value estate transactions included the purchase and sale of the John Cameron property portfolio. This consisted of three farms in Fife and Invermearan and Glenlochay Estates in Perthshire. Other notable deals include the sale of Keills Estate, Tressady Estate and Ardargie Estate.

Family/Matrimonial, Scotland sole 1st place
The Firm: An "excellent client base and a very good team" at Turcan Connell help this practice dominate the Scottish family law scene. It undertakes a large amount of high-value divorce and separation cases both in the Court of Session and in the Sheriff Courts. The support network offered by other departments in the firm enables the team to offer much deeper and broader advice than some other firms, and the group also prides itself on being one of the only firms offering dual-qualified English-Scottish lawyers. It handles cross-border and multi-jurisdictional cases, as well as disputes involving children.
The Lawyers: Department head Alasdair Loudon is "extremely competent" in his handling of financial provision matters, according to sources, and his pragmatic approach wins praise from clients. Interviewees hold Gillian Crandles "in high regard" for the work undertaken to introduce collaborative law to Scotland, as well as her high net worth and child dispute cases. Philippa Cunniff ‘s "promotion to partner at a young age indicates her quality" according to one source, while peers and clients alike consider her to be a "competent and fine lawyer," particularly when it comes to complex and high net worth matters.
Employment, Scotland joint 5th place
The Firm: Supported by a strong private client history, this "solid practice" picks up a good deal of spin-off work from this reputation and joins the rankings accordingly. Serving senior business figures, high net worth individuals and rural landowners in their employment disputes, David Ogilvy is the more senior of the firm's two employment lawyers. "They have a good understanding of the employment needs within the charity sector," adds one of the firm's many charity and non-profit clients.