Scottish Legal Recruitment Newsletter
Q4 2026 (January – March)
Iconic Highlights – Q4
This quarter has seen strong and steady activity across the Scottish legal market, with Iconic supporting a wide range of movement and sector growth:
- NQ Event: Our NQ event was a major success, featuring valuable insights from Ruairidh Leishman and Gemma Nimmo of Shepherd and Wedderburn.
- Candidate Moves: We facilitated successful moves in Personal Injury, Private Client, and Employment, helping candidates secure excellent opportunities at the start of the year.
- Active Mandates: Iconic has continued to operate across a healthy pipeline of mandates in Employment, Private Client, Commercial Property, Personal Injury, Professional Indemnity, and Competition.
- Women in Law Awards: Emma Pringle and I were delighted to attend the BWS Women in Law Awards, celebrating the achievements of women across the legal profession. It was a fantastic afternoon recognising talent across the Scottish legal community, with winners including Stacy Campbell (McKee Campbell Morrison) alongside a number of other outstanding lawyers recognised across categories such as leadership, mentoring and rising star awards.
Market Overview – Q4
The Scottish legal market entered 2026 with sustained confidence. Firm activity remained strong across contentious, transactional, and advisory areas, underpinned by economic stability and continued sector wide investment.
Several firms announced significant strategic hires and office expansions, signalling continued optimism and forward planning:
- Thorntons appointed two senior construction specialists, Jennifer Young and Sarah Stuart, strengthening its Aberdeen offering.
- Addleshaw Goddard continued its Scottish expansion with two partner hires — Ingrid McGhee (Employment) and Stacey Cassidy (Construction).
- Jones Whyte completed a major expansion by integrating the NewLaw Scotland team, adding c.3,000 clients and over 30 legal professionals.
- Brodies bolstered its corporate crime practice with the appointment of leading criminal law specialist Neil Hay.
- Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie expanded into Aberdeen, adding a full Private Client team via a transfer from Burness Paull.
- BTO welcomed Donna Strong as partner in its real estate team.
- Anderson Strathern added Dawn MacPherson as partner within its commercial property team.
- Gillespie Macandrew announced Gavin Merchant as its new CEO (from 1 March 2026), signalling leadership renewal and continued strategic growth.
Together, these developments highlight a market continuing to strengthen across infrastructure, litigation, commercial property, employment, and private client.
Practice Area Activity
Employment
Employment was the busiest area this quarter, with increased hiring driven partly by organisations preparing for the widely anticipated 2026 employment law reforms.
Private Client
Private Client remained active, supported by sustained demographic demand and increased planning work, further intensified by anticipated inheritance tax and compliance related changes.
Commercial Property & Construction
Activity continued steadily across development, investment and commercial leasing matters, supported by firm expansions, infrastructure growth, and multiple senior hires across the sector.
Personal Injury
Personal Injury remained consistently active, with ongoing litigation, credit hire matters, and clinical negligence work contributing to demand.
Insurance Litigation
Insurance Litigation maintained stable hiring needs, particularly for those handling complex, high value liability and defender side matters.
NQ Market & Salaries
Internal NQ processes have now begun at many Scottish firms, with retention discussions and early workforce planning underway.
While no major specific NQ salary announcements were published during Q1 2026, the average Scottish NQ salary remains around £53,000.
With budgets now being finalised and hiring strategies locked in, we anticipate new salary updates and increased hiring activity emerging as firms move into Q2.
Looking Ahead
The outlook for Q2 and beyond remains positive:
- Employment will likely remain a major recruitment driver as firms and employers respond to regulatory shifts.
- Private Client, Commercial Property, Construction, and Litigation are expected to continue their steady performance.
- NQ recruitment will accelerate as firms finalise internal decisions and bring more roles to market.
Iconic will continue supporting clients and candidates across these key areas, with a strong pipeline expected to carry momentum into the next quarter.
Legal Team
Connie Nimmo – Legal Recruitment Specialist | connie.nimmo@iconicresourcing.com
Emma Pringle – Associate Director HR & Legal | emma.pringle@iconicresourcing.com