London growth and improving communication highlighted by new double-headed management team

Dundas & Wilson's newly-elected joint managing partners have set out plans to bulk up in the UK and improve communication at the firm.

Restructuring partner Caryn Penley and real estate partner Allan Wernham (pictured) will formally share the managing partner position from 1 August after a partner vote on 20 June. The pair have held their posts on an interim basis since March, when predecessor Donald Shaw stepped down.

They saw off competition from two individual candidates, corporate partners Colin Massie and Michael Polson, to secure their election and will work alongside intellectual property partner Laurence Ward as newly-elected chairman of the firm. Ward is taking over from David Hardie, who is stepping down after three years of a four-year term on 31 July.

Wernham said splitting the managing partner role between them would allow both he and Penley to continue with fee-earning work alongside their managerial roles.

He told Legal Week: "Standing on a joint ticket would not have occurred to us if we hadn't been doing it for the past three months and seen how well it works. We believe all partners should be client-facing, but the managing partner role is a full-time one.  By sharing the role, we can both stay in the market, continue to contribute financially and support each other."

The pair won the contested election on a manifesto of improving communication and cohesion, with weekly office partner meetings and several firmwide meetings a year to be the norm going forward.

The proposals come against a backdrop of mounting tensions between the firm's partnerships in London and Scotland, according to former partners.

"I've also heard about tensions between Scotland and London, which is common to any company with multiple offices, but stronger than that is a common desire for the firm to succeed," said Wernham.

He added: "Increasing understanding about what other partners do is key to providing better support to each other and improving our market standing. This is what you need to boost confidence in the firm."

In keeping with other Scottish firms, Dundas remains interested in a strategic merger to improve its standing in the top 50, despite the failure of talks with London firm Bircham Dyson Bell late last year.

Since then, McGrigors' merger with Pinsent Masons has gone live, Biggart Baillie has announced its tie-up with DWF and Shoosmiths has announced a merger with Edinburgh outfit Archibald Campbell & Harley.

Commenting on the drive to link with another practice, Wernham said: "We won't merge for merging's sake or for scale. We are constantly taking the temperature of the legal market and we are open to opportunities, but we are not in firm talks with anyone at the moment."

Instead, the pair – who will split responsibilities, with Penley in charge of operations and Wernham tasked with raising the firm's external profile – will for now focus on building the recently-opened Aberdeen office and strengthening operations in London.

Wernham said the focus now is on being a UK practice with a strong Scottish presence, concluding: "We don't have a turnover target going forward – we believe setting one would drive the wrong decisions. We see our role as looking at where the firm needs to invest, looking at our best opportunities and backing those."