Edinburgh-based law firm Balfour+Manson appoints David Short to executive chairman role, succeeding Elaine Motion

Change after a decade at the top of historic Edinburgh legal firm.

Elaine Motion says she is 'very happy to hand the baton to' David Short. Picture: contributed.

An Edinburgh-based law firm has named a new executive chairman, whose “brilliant and formidable” predecessor held the role for almost ten years.

Balfour+Manson has announced that personal injury specialist David Short is to take over from Elaine Motion, who has worked on high-profile Brexit cases, effective February 1. He joined the firm in 2012 and took over as head of the litigation team when Motion became executive chairman in 2014.

He will work alongside the existing management team of Scott Foster, who joined the organisation last year in the new role of chief operating officer, finance director Ken Dinneen, and HR director Margaret Peet. He specialises in cases including aviation and complex cross-border personal injury claims, and has represented clients in 22 different accident cases, including the Malaysian Airlines MH17 crash, the Shetland helicopter ditching, and the Shoreham Air Show crash.

He said: “It’s an honour to take up this role. Elaine’s shoes will be hard to fill as she has been a brilliant and formidable executive chairman, but I very much look forward to taking the reins and leading our excellent team at Balfour+Manson through the opportunities and challenges ahead.”

The firm describes Motion as a highly respected litigation lawyer who will remain a partner at the firm. She joined in 1993, after working in New Zealand, and became a partner in 1997 and a solicitor advocate in 1999. She led two successful Brexit cases – the 2018 European Court of Justice ruling confirming the UK can revoke the Brexit process without the say-so of fellow EU states, and the 2019 UK Supreme Court ruling that Boris Johnson’s prorogation of the House of Commons was unlawful.

She said: “I’ve been in the chair’s seat for close to a decade and it has been a pleasure and a privilege to lead this great firm. However, I have been in the role much longer than I ever expected – ten years is a long time in a leadership role, especially alongside complex and demanding client work – so I’m very happy to hand the baton to David Short.”