Commercial law firm Burness bounces back

BURNESS, the Scottish commercial law firm, has seen a sharp recovery in profits and turnover in the past year despite conditions in the hard-hit legal sector remaining "unpredictable".

The firm, which has offices in Edinburgh and Glasgow, saw net profit grow 40 per cent in the year to 31 July while turnover rose 8 per cent to 21.2 million.

The results are a marked turnaround from the previous year when profits slumped 30 per cent to 6.8m.

Philip Rodney, managing partner of Burness, said although conditions remained "tough", the firm was buoyed by strong activity in areas such as dispute resolution, employment, pensions and funds disciplines.

He said Burness's corporate finance department had also "bucked the market trend", advising on deals such as the Bluegem purchase of Liberty and Standard Life's acquisition of Threesixty Services.

"For Burness 2008/9 was about survivability and 2009/10 has been about sustainability. The next two years will be about growth," Rodney added.