Burness Paull has promoted five of its lawyers to partner as the firm prepares for further growth in key areas and continues to invest in developing homegrown talent.

The newly appointed partners are Rachel MacArthur, Daniela Pallucci, Colin Smith (all corporate finance), Nick Warrillow (dispute resolution), and Gemma Young (banking).

Rachel, Daniela and Colin trained at the firm and Nick and Gemma have each been at the firm for several years.

Rachel recently returned to Burness Paull after more than six years working in the private equity team of Travers Smith in London. She brings City-level experience of advising sponsors, portfolio companies and management teams on complex, cross-border, private equity-backed transactions and has a wealth of experience helping management teams navigate their equity arrangements at pivotal moments in their companies' lifecycles. 

Daniela has a strong track record of advising portfolio companies, institutional investors and management teams on large-scale, complex and international M&A deals. She has a particular focus on private equity-backed buy-and-build transactions, working closely with some of the firm’s most active clients as they pursue ambitious growth plans.

Colin focuses on private M&A transactions and private equity. He has considerable experience of advising sponsors, management teams and owner-managed businesses on cross-border M&A deals, buy-and-build acquisitions, growth equity, real estate investments and management incentive plans.

Nick is a dual-qualified commercial disputes and contentious regulatory lawyer who trained and spent over a decade with magic circle firm Slaughter and May. Since joining Burness Paull, he has continued to advise on regulatory investigations, High Court litigation and international arbitration. He has extensive experience of supporting clients through cyber incidents and sits on the board of the Cyber and Fraud Centre – Scotland.

Gemma is a senior member of the firm’s market-leading banking team who advises banks, corporate borrowers, private equity sponsors and funds on a range of financing transactions, as well as working closely with City and international firms on the Scottish aspects of cross-jurisdictional lending and securitisation structures. She has significant expertise in the hotel sector, having acted on a number of recent high-profile hotel transactions across the UK.

The five new partners take the strength of the partnership at Burness Paull to 94 and are among 82 promotions effective from today (1 April) – including 15 directors, 18 senior associates, 18 associates, and 26 senior solicitors – across the firm’s practice areas and offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen.

Peter Lawson, chair at Burness Paull, said: “The attraction and development of exceptional talent is key to our ability to deliver the very best outcomes for our clients. The well-deserved promotions of Rachel, Daniela, Colin, Nick and Gemma reflect the significant contribution all five have made – and our strong belief that their talent and expertise will further enhance our bench of market-leading lawyers.

“Corporate finance, banking and dispute resolution are longstanding areas of strength for the firm and these promotions will further enhance our ability to meet the evolving needs of our clients, reinforcing our position as a leading law firm for both domestic and international businesses.”