New partner appointment at Gibson Kerr
Law firm, Gibson Kerr, has appointed a private-client specialist to lead the expansion of its private-client practice across the central belt.
Donna Brennan joins as partner and head of personal law, bringing around 30 years of legal experience to the Edinburgh and Glasgow-based firm.
Donna joins from Weightmans, where she was a partner responsible for private-client work in Scotland.
Her appointment is part of Gibson Kerr's ambitions to strengthen its specialist private-client services. Donna will lead the department's development across both Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Her specialisms include estate planning, inheritance-tax (IHT) planning and succession planning for families and family businesses. She is also a regular speaker at legal conferences, sharing her expertise on developments affecting private-client practitioners.
Donna said: "What attracted me to Gibson Kerr was its focus on providing specialist advice to individuals and families. Private-client work is at the heart of the business, rather than an additional service offered alongside a larger commercial practice.
"There is already an excellent team in place and I'm looking forward to building on that expertise, developing the department and expanding our presence across the central belt.”
She added: “We're also seeing substantial changes to the legal and financial landscape, particularly around IHT and succession planning. These developments are creating new challenges for families and business owners, making access to experienced, specialist advice more important than ever."
Donna joins a department which has recently celebrated a series of professional achievements, strengthening its credentials in private-client law.
Legal director Sara Albizzati was awarded a STEP Excellence Award this year after achieving the highest score in Scotland across the four papers required for the STEP Diploma. STEP is the international professional association for specialists in inheritance and succession planning. Senior solicitor, Briege Valentine has successfully completed her STEP examinations.
Linsey Dagger, legal director within the department, also brings significant experience and expertise to the team. She is STEP qualified and has practised private-client law for over 20 years.
Scott Rasmusen, managing partner at Gibson Kerr, said: "Attracting someone of Donna's calibre is a real statement of intent for Gibson Kerr. She has spent three decades building an outstanding reputation in private-client practice and brings the experience and ambition to take an already successful department to another level.
"What makes this appointment particularly exciting is the strength and depth of the team Donna is joining. We have some exceptional legal talent within the firm, including Sara, whose STEP examination results placed her among the very best practitioners in the profession. That is a remarkable achievement and one we're enormously proud of.
"With Briege also recently securing her STEP qualification, we have a team whose specialist knowledge and professional achievements are hugely impressive. Donna's leadership will allow us to harness that expertise and realise our ambitions to grow the department across Edinburgh, Glasgow and beyond.
"Private client work is central to who we are as a firm. We're not interested in simply becoming bigger for the sake of it. Our ambition is to build one of Scotland's strongest specialist teams, ensuring that individuals and families can access exceptional legal advice when they need it most."
Pictured: Donna Brennan, partner and head of personal law
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