Cullen Kilshaw and Iain Smith & Partners merge to form the largest full service legal practice in the Scottish Borders

January 1, 2021

Cullen Kilshaw, Solicitors and Estate Agents are pleased to announce the assimilation of the long established law firm of Iain Smith & Partners into their legal and estate agency business. Effective from January 2021, the merged organisations bring together their complementary strengths to form the largest full service legal practice in the Scottish Borders.

While Cullen Kilshaw with 8 law and estate agency offices across the Borders have built their business on providing a full range of services to the property market and developing their expertise in estate administration and wills and Powers of Attorney, Iain Smith & Partners have long been recognised as one of the leading commercial law firms in the region and also enjoy a deserved reputation as expert court practitioners providing a full range of services across the entire spectrum of court work including family law and civil litigation.

“This is another exciting chapter in our journey as the leading provider of property and legal services in the Borders”, says David Kilshaw, the senior partner of Cullen Kilshaw.

“We are looking forward to welcoming the current partners and employees of Iain Smith & Partners into the team, they bring a breadth of skills and experience which will blend seamlessly with our existing staff and will take our combined workforce up to 65 people serving the local community in 9 different locations across the Borders.”

“We too all look forward to a new era and are equally committed to seeing the smoothest of transitions. Such that the clients of both Firms may expect to see enhanced legal services delivered from an expanded and dedicated team of Professionals and loyal support staff.” says Gavin Hamilton of Iain Smith & Partners.

Iain Smith & Partners’ existing offices in Bank Close in Galashiels will house the merged and enlarged Court Departments of both Firms while their other staff will be relocating to Cullen Kilshaw’s Headquarters on the top floor of the impressively modern Waverley Chambers building in Ladhope Vale. All are looking forward to being able to provide an enhanced service to clients, old and new, as part of a larger organisation, one whose distinctive red and yellow signage is already well known in the Scottish Borders, as the largest and most successful combined Estate Agency and Legal Practice in the region.

With Cullen Kilshaw having set up in business in 1982 and the history of Iain Smith & Partners stretching back to the 19th Century, the merged organisation brings together over 200 years of accumulated expertise, local experience, and a range of skills in the residential property market, in commercial conveyancing, court actions, trust and executry administration and wills and powers of attorney, which more than matches some of the larger law firms in Edinburgh. The emphasis on providing a locally based service at a competitive cost should stand the firm and its clients in good stead as they come together to embrace the challenges of 2021 and the years ahead.