Law firm BLM unveils string of Scottish promotions

Insurance and risk law firm BLM has announced a series of 45 partner and associate promotions, five of which are in Scotland, as well as one appointment as part of its growth north of the Border.

From left: Claire Raftery, Claire Thomas, Zoe McDonnell, Iain Buchanan and Victoria Anderson. Picture Peter Devlin

Iain Buchanan, who has been with BLM and its Scottish predecessor HBM Sayers for ten years, has become a partner. Buchanan, who is based in the firm’s Glasgow office, specialises in defending large loss and catastrophic injury claims for insurance customers.

In the same location, Victoria Anderson, Kelly Brotherhood and Zoe McDonnell have become associates, while Claire Raftery has taken on the same role in Edinburgh.

Anderson, who has been with the firm and its predecessor for nearly eight years, and McDonnell, who joined in 2014, both work in BLM’s health and safety team, defending in criminal and regulatory prosecutions and providing representation at fatal accident inquiries.

Brotherhood, who has been with the firm and its predecessor for more than 14 years, works in civil litigation, mainly defending personal injury claims, while Raftery, who is dual-qualified to practice law in both Scotland and England and Wales, joined the firm in 2014 and has since specialised in defending healthcare professionals in regulatory proceedings and clinical negligence claims.

BLM also announced the appointment of solicitor Claire Thomas to the family law team. She previously spent nearly five years as an advocate and will work with family law partners Siobhan Kelly and Caroline Gillespie.

Mike Brown, senior partner at BLM, said: “We need to have a solid, agile team that can help us to create a sustainable business model for the future.”

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