Even amid a string of senior appointments, mergers and strategic rethinks, there was little doubting the biggest story north of the border in recent months.

In January this year, Legal Week reported that Glasgow-based giant McGrigors was in talks to relieve Aberdeen's Ledingham Chalmers of its respected energy practice – a deal subsequently confirmed in April.

The move saw McGrigors' ranks swell by more than 50 lawyers across practice areas including corporate and property, as the big four Scottish firm secured a heavyweight presence in the jurisdiction's key energy sector.

"We are delighted with the quality of people we have brought on board and the extra focus it has given our energy practice," says McGrigors senior partner Kirk Murdoch. "We did have some oil and gas expertise but this has given us a team that is capable of holding its own with anyone in the UK."

A dozen partners joined the firm as part of the deal, bringing McGrigors' total partnership to more than 70. Outposts in Azerbaijan and the Falkland Islands also came under the McGrigors banner.

The new Aberdeen arm houses eight legacy Ledingham partners while the other four relocated to existing McGrigors offices in London and Edinburgh.

The tie-up propels McGrigors into the UK top 40, with total revenue this year likely to exceed £50m for the first time. More importantly, the move hands McGrigors access to a quality client list including such bluechip energy clients as BP, French oil giant Total and Caledonia Oil & Gas. The firm also acquired a clutch of what Murdoch calls "less familiar but very ambitious" clients, including exploratory oil and gas companies such as Dana Petroleum and Tullow Oil.

As local observers have noted, a key test for the tieup will be whether McGrigors can cross-sell its property and commercial expertise to those clients – a task easier said than done with any bluechip company.

Nevertheless, the firm is confident that its investment will pay off, especially if McGrigors' existing links with the region's key finance players – in particular HBOS and the Royal Bank of Scotland – can be developed.

"There is a real axis between Aberdeen and London," argues Murdoch, adding that the capital is "critical" to the overall strategy of the firm.

He points to the continuing popularity in the energy sector of the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) as evidence of that connection. While the junior London exchange has suffered something of a recent blip after two years of extraordinary growth, AIM has established itself as the first port of call for energy companies hunting for capital, often attracting over-seas clients.

Murdoch adds: "One of the key drivers of the deal was that Ledingham Chalmers could not offer the fuller service that McGrigors offers, so they were missing out on AIM work, corporate finance support and so on.

"We have already had some superb opportunities that would previously have gone straight to a City firm [before the team joined McGrigors]."

Carping from rivals is normally par for the course following such a move, but criticism from outside the firm has been muted. While several firms have looked of late to forge a presence in a market known for its insularity, McGrigors finds itself with an experienced and well-known team that is arguably as familiar with the terrain as anyone.

However, the consensus among Aberdeen advisers is that while the takeover represents a sound move for McGrigors, it is unlikely to significantly alter the dynamics of the market, which is still dominated by the full service Paull & Williamsons.

"It has not made a huge difference as there is nobody new in the market," claims one partner. "In that sense, it is still business as usual."

Unusually in the UK market, Aberdeen is still regarded as under-lawyered, with the considerable demand for serious energy capability outstripping supply. Likewise, respected energy specialists at senior associate and partner level are hard to come by.

Yet size is becoming increasingly important in the market, with McGrigors competing for the best energy work against Paull and top 20 UK practice CMS Cameron McKenna, the only major City practice in the market.

With around 30 fee earners concentrating on oil and gas based in Aberdeen, Camerons represents one of the major players in a sector attracting increasing interest from advisers in Scotland and further south.

"The sector is generally very buoyant – for lawyers and anyone else," says Camerons oil and gas partner Stephen Millar, who is based full-time in Aberdeen. "Oil companies are employing lots of people… and there are a few good deals around. As long as oil prices stay up, everybody's plans will stay in place. Even if the market changes [and prices drop] we could then see lots more disposals."

In May the firm scored a lead role acting for Canada-based upstream oil and gas company Talisman Energy on the sale of North Sea subsidiary Talisman Expro to Endeavour Energy UK.

The deal was worth $414m (£224m) – making it one of the largest transactions north of the border this year – and saw Camerons act opposite Texas giant Vinson & Elkins, which represented Endeavour.

Millar, who led the Camerons team on that deal, also points to regulatory work Camerons is currently handling alongside the UK Offshore Operators Association over standard decommissioning agreements.

"That is a sign that decommissioning is much more in people's minds," Millar says, "which shows where the industry is currently going."

Other deals saw heavyweight Scots outfit Shepherd & Wedderburn recently score a notable lead role a couple of years after first launching in Aberdeen, advising on the £133m sale of Edinburgh Oil & Gas (EOG) to Anglo-Dutch energy group Dyon UK.

Shepherds, which also numbers Scotland-based FTSE 100 oil and gas producer Cairn Energy among its clients and recently led on a £100m share placing for the energy group, advised EOG while Ashurst acted on behalf of the acquirer.

"Aberdeen is a fast-expanding market," says Shepherds corporate partner James Will. "It is one where we have traditionally seen Aberdeen firms dominate. Now we are increasingly seeing Scots firms."

Shepherds recently reinforced its local offering after luring corporate partner and energy specialist Helen Dickson from Ledingham, mirroring the efforts of rivals to ramp up in the region.

Another player being watched closely is McGrigors' arch Glasgow rival Maclays Murray & Spens, which launched an Aberdeen branch in 2003.

"It is a very dynamic market and everyone is struggling to cope with the workload," says Maclays oil and gas chief Uisdean Vass. Like McGrigors' Murdoch, he says the Aberdeen-London axis is crucial to growing his firm's energy practice. Indeed, securities work and corporate support is a key component of the group's workload.

He comments: "AIM may be slowing down generally, but not in the oil and gas sector. There will be the usual slowdown over the summer but September is set to be extraordinarily busy. As long as the price of oil is high, the market will be busy."

Will adds: "AIM has seen a little bit of a slowdown in recent months, but that is unsurprising given the turmoil elsewhere in the markets. There is still a pretty buoyant listed securities market, for which the largest Scots firms compete very much on a UK basis."

"There have been a few market wobbles, with listings put off until the autumn," agrees Maclays corporate head Kenneth Shand. "There is always a bit of concern generated when the market is showing less confidence, but there is no panic at this stage.

"Otherwise, there is plenty of M&A, both in terms of trade purchasers and private equity-backed deals."

Dual heads take charge for Dundas

As Scotland's largest firms continue to soak up market share, it was little surprise to see Edinburgh-based giant Dundas & Wilson post an impressive set of financial results.

The big four outfit, still regarded as the bellwether for Scotland's legal establishment, reported a 20% climb in turnover for the last 12 months, with fee income up from £44m to £53m.

Average profits for members of Dundas' all-equity partnership also improved by a similar proportion – despite considerable investment over the period – from £256,000 to £308,000.

The performance hands an early morale-booster to Dundas' new management team of Donald Shaw and Alan Campbell, respectively the former heads of Dundas' real estate and projects groupings, who were confirmed as joint managing partners late last year after a contested election and formally took the reins on 1 May, 2006.

Shaw and Campbell replaced former chairman and interim chief executive Neil Cochran, who temporarily filled the breach after high-profile former chief Chris Campbell quit the firm last year to take on a senior in-house role at the Royal Bank of Scotland.

"We are both [equally] responsible for everything," says Shaw, who is based in the City while Campbell resides in Edinburgh. "We did not want a geographical responsibility split, as that can create a 'silo' mentality."

Shaw confirms that the firm's growing presence in the City, which was launched after Dundas' dramatic split from the Andersen Legal Network in 2002, will continue to be a focus for investment. Last month the firm hired Taylor Wessing EU and competition partner Peter Willis. That followed a spate of hires late last year, when half a dozen new partners joined in just a few months, including senior lawyers from Pinsent Masons, Watson Farley & Williams and Hammonds.

The London office has grown from five lawyers four years ago to more than 50 fee earners, including 19 partners, with real estate and financial services regarded internally as the most developed practice areas.

Shaw rules out any dramatic shift in strategy for the firm, which has remained notably absent from the Aberdeen market.

Energy is nevertheless an important area for the firm, as underlined by Dundas' recent appointment alongside McGrigors on the first formal panel for FTSE 100 power giant British Energy.

"We can do more in energy," says Shaw, "although we have definitely discounted making a play in Aberdeen. Although in the short term, rising prices may lead to a rise in activity, that has a finite lifespan. Long-term, we think the future is potentially in nuclear power, although we do plenty of work on renewable energy too."

Either way, that future seems bright.

HBJ is Midlands stalwart's gate to the north

When top 10 Scottish firm Brodies sealed a takeover deal with commercial boutique Bishops earlier this month, it was the latest round of consolidation in a market that had of late seen more than its fair share of merger deals.

A more unusual example of Anglo-Scots accord was provided with the merger between Scots practice Henderson Boyd Jackson and Midlands stalwart Gateley Wareing to form a 200-lawyer practice with offices in Birmingham, Leicester and Nottingham as well as Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The combined firm, which already shared common strengths in practice areas such as banking and real estate, began trading as HBJ Gateley Wareing on 1 January, 2006, with nearly 60 partners and a projected annual turnover of £31m.

"We were first introduced by a mutual client with whom we worked on a regional basis," co-senior partner Malcolm McPherson says of a deal that was first proposed in May 2005 and signed off by September that year.

He adds: "The client said they would find a cross-border practice of use. The two firms were similar in style and culture, which was important as we have found integration has been less stressful than it might have been."

Although McPherson concedes that there is some way to go to complete the integration of the two practices, he points to the firm's appointment to BT's four-firm core panel in April as evidence of early success.

Rivals will be watching closely.

Harper Macleod has a silver lining

With several of Scotland's largest commercial firms concentrating on bedding down mergers or launching in new markets, Glasgow-based Harper Macleod has enjoyed a year of consolidation following its own period of expansion.

The firm reaped the dividends for some typically canny Caledonian investment with turnover climbing by an impressive 30% in the last 12 months to reach a new high of £10.4m, edging further up the ranks of Glasgow firms towards larger local rivals such as Brodies and Biggart Baillie.

"We made some pretty significant investment in people and IT in 2004-05," says managing partner Lorne Crerar, "and those people only became fully productive in the last year. The results show the planning of the previous year has come good."

Alongside the firm's company and commercial team, real estate has been a top performer for the firm. The property practice was recently buoyed by the hire last month of ex-Dundas & Wilson partner David Steel – a rare lateral hire for a firm more accustomed to organic growth – while an appointment to the panel of Scottish Water to handle the utility group's commercial property work was another boost for the group.

Profits per partner also registered a significant improvement, up from £177,000 to a respectable £240,000 – again in line with many of those larger rivals – although Crerar concedes this is achieved with the help of a leveraged partnership in which just 17 of the firm's 31 partners can boast full equity status.

Profitability remains a focus and while Crerar says he would rather the firm remained a "mediumsized firm that is fleet of foot and can react to change quickly", those results nevertheless provide a platform for further growth.

Harper Macleod now numbers almost 100 fee earners and is to date the only major commercial Scots firm with an office in the Highlands, thanks to its Inverness outpost, which lends the firm some differential in the domestic market.

"Inverness had its first full year in 2005," Crerar adds, attributing the office launch primarily to the activities of existing clients in the region. "Most commercial firms are looking south towards London but we have ruled that out for the medium term. Our strategy is to continue to expand in Scotland – where we believe there is still room for growth."

Inverness undoubtedly represents a limited marketplace and is therefore unlikely to seize the attention of Scots heavyweights currently focused on achieving UK-wide coverage via investment in London, the regions or Aberdeen.

On one hand, Crerar questions whether there is room for another major commercial practice in the city, suggesting "that boat has sailed" since the entry of Harper Macleod. On the other, he is keen to talk up the opportunities on offer in the Highlands.

"Inverness is not a huge place but it is the fastestgrowing city in Europe," argues Crerar. "It also the centre for a huge geographic area – almost 40% of the area of Scotland."

With the firm saying revenue will likely see double-digit improvement once again next year, rapid growth is certainly a familiar phenomenon at Harper Macleod.