Dundas & Wilson converts to LLP
19 Nov 04
First of Scotland's big four adopts limited liability status
Dundas & Wilson, one of the biggest legal firms in Scotland, has become a limited liability partnership.
The move, which protects the asset of non-negligent partners in the event of the firm being found liable in damages, took effect on 1 November.
LLP status has been relatively slow to catch on among legal firms since its introduction three years ago, but this year has seen a number of larger firms, including Brodies, Tods Murray and Wright Johnston & Mackenzie convert.
The three other firms who make up Scotland's big four along with Dundas & Wilson - Shepherd+ Wedderburn, Maclay Murray & Spens and McGrigors - are yet to announce their intentions.
LLP status requires a firm to publish annual accounts, involving a greater degree of openness than has traditionally been the case with law firm management. Some firms have also hesitated to make the conversion on the basis that clients might take a negative view, but such fears appear to have proved groundless for the firms who have converted.