Scottish firm Shepherd and Wedderburn has snapped up Dentons’ 20-strong Glasgow private client team, a move that almost doubles the size of its private client practice.

The departing Dentons team is led by partners Eleanor Kerr and Alexis Graham, who will continue to be based primarily in Glasgow. They bring with them expertise in a wide range of private client matters, with an emphasis on trusts, succession law, tax and estate planning. The team is due to join at the start of April.

It is the second major UK private client team move this year; in January Taylor Wessing secured 11 London-based private client lawyers from Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) in London. 

Andrew Blain, Shepherd and Wedderburn’s managing partner, said: “We have been looking at opportunities to invest in and grow our private client practice for some time… Attracting a team of this calibre adds further strength and depth to our existing and highly regarded private client practice.”

Kerr has been with Dentons for more than three years after it merged with her previous firm Maclay Murray & Spens in October 2017. She gives Shepherd and Wedderburn more than 30 years of experience advising on matters involving wills, adults with incapacity, asset protection and inheritance tax planning, among others.

Like Kerr, Graham was at Maclays when it merged with Dentons in 2017. Her practice focuses on advising high-net-worth individuals on all aspects of estate planning, as well as charity trustees on charity law.

Malcolm Rust, head of Shepherd and Wedderburn’s private client business, said: “Operating across Scotland and the UK, the team will greatly enhance our existing capabilities, working in close collaboration with our existing private client team and specialist lawyers across our offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and London.”

He added: “The arrival of the Dentons team will allow us to extend our service to clients nationally and internationally, and also to offer private client services of a scale, quality and reach that we believe is unrivalled in Scotland.”

Back in November, Dentons parted company with a 22-strong financial services team which joined Bristol-based firm TLT following its decision to close its Watford office where the team was located. Meanwhile in October, Clyde & Co shed its Scottish residential property practice, which reverted to its original name Simpson & Marwick following its merger with Clyde & Co five years earlier.