Young but punching above its weight: Martin Darroch outlines Harper Macleod's achievements and goals

Founded 35 years ago, Harper Macleod is one of Scotland’s younger legal firms but has grown into a top-flight, full-service player with 430 people across six locations and revenues in the region of £33 million.

Chief executive Martin Darroch reflects on the changes to the profession that have taken place over the decades, what differentiates the practice from its peers and touches on the challenges facing the firm and the wider legal sector.

Tell us about the firm’s history and current scale of operations:

Harper Macleod started in 1988 when two young partners from a Glasgow practice wanted to create a new commercial law firm. One of those partners was Lorne Crerar, now Professor Lorne Crerar CBE, who remains our chairman.

Harper Macleod chief executive Martin Darroch: 'We’re living in an economic environment which has not been felt in a generation.' Picture: Mike Wilkinson

We are a full-service legal firm with clients ranging from individuals and families, a cross-section of SMEs, to Scotland’s largest businesses and organisations. Despite our relatively young age, we’ve grown quickly. Today, we are a business of 430 people in six offices across the country - Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness, Elgin, Thurso and Lerwick. We recorded a revenue of £33m in the year to March 31.

We look back on several milestones as catalysts for our growth, such as establishing a presence in the Highlands in 2004, being appointed as legal advisors to the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and the Scottish Government Legal Framework.

What have been the main challenges over the past couple of years?

Our challenges aren’t dissimilar to most businesses and organisations, or the wider economy. Key to our approach has been focusing on what we can control. This time last year, most of society, including the legal sector, was still adjusting to a new way of working, post-pandemic. We transitioned in a strong position given the long-held focus we’ve placed on being a resilient business. That gave us a platform from which to create our own opportunities by focusing on what our clients need.

Harper Macleod's 2023 trainees. The legal firm has just welcomed its largest intake of new trainees. Picture: Mike Wilkinson

We’re living in an economic environment which has not been felt in a generation. The underlying challenge of climate change and just transition to net zero is also being tackled. On the client front, it’s easy to be distracted given the economic conditions, but we’ve been focused on delivering for our clients to help them overcome their challenges.

In the wider economic and political contexts, we’ve seen a spotlight placed on investment opportunities in Scotland, such as the creation of two new Green Freeports, two new investment zones, and major energy and infrastructure investments such as the ScotWind project. Foreign direct investment into Scotland is also outperforming the rest of the UK which will create opportunities for many businesses.

And the firm’s greatest achievement over that time?

Our biggest achievement continues to be staying true to our values and being focused on delivering for our clients - this shouldn’t be underestimated. The last few years have probably been some of the most challenging for a wide variety of sectors, organisations, families and individuals so it’s important that they’ve had a constant in place to support them. That’s the same for our people - existing colleagues and those who have joined us. We’ve worked hard to be a place of opportunity for all. In the last year, we achieved double Gold Investors in People and Investors in Young People accreditations; such is the responsibility we have to the next generation.

We have increased our share of reported corporate transactions where we were the principal advisor, to the point where we were involved in nearly one in every five deals completed in Scotland in the last 12 months. We have been appointed to two of the largest legal services frameworks in Scotland - the City of Edinburgh Council and the Scottish Government’s new legal services frameworks. We are the only firm to be appointed to all six available lots on both frameworks.

The sector is seeing a fresh wave of consolidation and tie-ups. How does the firm view that and where does it stand?

Consolidation is a fact of life across all sectors. The legal sector is no different. What we’re focused on is what we can control, which means understanding and responding to what our clients want from their legal advisors. Our experience is that strength in depth of quality is valued, not just simple measures of quantity. We are committed to Scotland and the Scottish jurisdiction.

How will AI make its mark on the profession and is it an area that can be embraced?

The potential for AI in the legal sector is very interesting and, to a large extent, how we use it will be dictated by what our clients are looking for. Essentially though, we are a people business albeit keeping a close eye on how AI, technology and a data-led approach can support our clients and our people.

If you take, for example, our family law team which is supporting clients who might be going through the most challenging period of their lives. It’s hard to see how AI can replace the empathy or relationship side of being able to support a client in those circumstances. On the flip side, AI is helping us when it comes to monitoring certain situations for our clients such as intellectual property and trade mark breaches.

How different will the firm look in five years’ time?

While the current economic picture perhaps looks as stable as it has done in recent years, there are undoubtedly challenges ahead for businesses and households alike. We’re in a very strong position which means our medium to long term future is looking positive, but that also means we first need to focus on our immediate future and growth in the next 18-24 months.

That challenge was brought into sharp focus recently when I met with our new trainees. We’ve just welcomed our largest intake of trainees, which, when combined with our current group, makes us one of the largest employers of graduates in Scotland.