Tods Murray

LLP A limited liability partnership (LLP) is a partnership in which some or all partners (depending on the jurisdiction) have limited liabilities. It therefore can exhibit aspects of both partnerships and corporations. In an LLP, each partner is n ...

WS was a mid-tier

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

legal firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...

with offices in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

and

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

and 2011 turnover of £13.1m, placing it at number 144 in ''

The Lawyer ''The Lawyer'' is a legal business information product for law firm leaders, commercial lawyers, barristers A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advoc ...

'' magazine's list of the two hundred largest UK firms. The firm appointed

administrators Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...

on 3 October 2014 and the firm was bought out by Shepherd and Wedderburn.

Practice

The firm's practice areas included Banking and Finance,

Bribery Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or Offer and acceptance, acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official ...

Consultancy,

Charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...

Law,

Construction Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...

Corporate A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as "born out of s ...

Employment Employment is a relationship between two party (law), parties Regulation, regulating the provision of paid Labour (human activity), labour services. Usually based on a employment contract, contract, one party, the employer, which might be a cor ...

, Environment and Climate Change,

Family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

, Hospitality and Leisure, IT/ IP/

Media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

Litigation A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. ...

and

Dispute Resolution Dispute resolution or dispute settlement is the process of resolving disputes between parties. The term ''dispute resolution'' is '' conflict resolution'' through legal means. Prominent venues for dispute settlement in international law incl ...

, Planning and Development, Private Client,

Projects A project is a type of assignment, typically involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a specific objective. An alternative view sees a project managerially as a sequence of events: a "set of interrelated tasks to be ...

, Real Estate, Recovery and Insolvency,

Renewable Energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

Residential Property A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family resident ...

, Rural Property and

Business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for ...

Social Housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...

Sports Law Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in a par ...

, and

Tax A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to regulate and reduce negative externalities. Tax co ...

. It was rated by legal directory Chambers and Partners as a Band 1 firm for Media & Entertainment and

Partnership A partnership is an agreement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments or combinations. Organizations ...

, and Band 2 for Banking & Finance and Healthcare, and by Legal500 as a first tier firm in Technology, Media & Telecoms, and as a second tier firm for Social Housing and for Edinburgh and Glasgow Commercial Property.

Locations

The firm had its head office in the Edinburgh Quay development between Lochrin and

Fountainbridge Fountainbridge is a former industrial district in Edinburgh, Scotland, a short distance west of the Old Town. It is built around the street of the same name, which begins at the West Port and continues (as Dundee Street) towards Gorgie and Da ...

, and an office on Bothwell Street in the centre of

History

The 'Tods' of the name is a plural, the firm having begun life in 1856 as the partnership of John Tod WS and his son John Robert Tod WS, along with Thomas Graham Murray WS and Andrew Jamieson SSC. The firm's original name was Tods Murray & Jamieson. Thomas Murray was in fact married to Caroline Tod, the daughter of the elder John Tod. Murray's son,

Andrew Murray, 1st Viscount Dunedin Andrew Graham Murray, 1st Viscount Dunedin, (21 November 1849 – 21 August 1942) was a Scottish politician and judge. He served as Secretary for Scotland between 1903 and 1905, as Lord Justice General and Lord President of the Court of Sessio ...

, became

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland (; ), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Scotland Office. The incum ...

(1903–05), Lord President (1905-13) and a

Lord of Appeal in Ordinary Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as Law Lords, were judges appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the British House of Lords, as a committee of the House, effectively to exercise the judicial functions of the House of ...

(1913–32). Of the four partners, three were Writers to the Signet while one was a Solicitor in the Supreme Courts. In 2012, at least half of the firms partners were Writers to the Signet. The firm was based for over one hundred years on Edinburgh's Queen Street, a popular area for solicitors' firms, but moved in 2005 to the new Edinburgh Quay development in the city's regenerated

business district. In 1999, it opened an additional office in Glasgow. In March 2004, it became a

limited liability partnership A limited liability partnership (LLP) is a partnership in which some or all partners (depending on the jurisdiction) have limited liabilities. It therefore can exhibit aspects of both partnerships and corporations. In an LLP, each partner is n ...

. The firm merged with Edinburgh-based private client law firm, Fyfe Ireland, in January 2012. In January 2013, the firm suffered a "sharp fall in profit and fee income" caused by a lack of confidence in the Scottish

real estate market Real estate business is the profession of buying, leasing, managing, or selling real estate (commercial, industrial, residential, or mixed-use premises)."Real estate": Oxford English Dictionary online: Retrieved September 18, 2011 Marketing and ...

and reduced borrowing opportunities following the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.

. Executive partner, David Dunsire, stated that he was confident that the firm would ”emerge from this recession stronger and fitter as we have done with others during our 150 year history”. Tods Murray entered into administration in October 2014, weeks after appointing a new partner to its real estate finance team. Approximately 50 jobs were lost as a result, following the merger with Shepherd & Wedderburn. The firm had around £5 million in debts at the time of administration, including £2 million owed to the

Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland Public Limited Company () is a major retail banking, retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest and Ulster Bank. The Royal Bank of Sco ...

References

{{Scots law firms Law firms of Scotland Companies based in Edinburgh Law firms established in 1856 1856 establishments in Scotland