Today (Friday 26 September) Scottish Legal News has published this interview with our Managing Partner, Alasdair Cummings.
In almost 15 years at the helm of Lindsays, Alasdair Cummings has overseen impressive growth. Six mergers have made it a firm of four cities, with turnover tripling to almost £30m. The statistics are strong. Amongst them, though, is one of which he is particularly proud.
“On October 1, we will have 54 Partners and I have been involved in bringing every single one of them into the business. I am quite paternal about that,” he says.
“I am the longest-standing Lindsays Partner at the moment. After that it’s Kenny Gray - and I was involved with Kenny becoming a Partner. Everyone who has come since has been as a result of mergers, organic growth or lateral hires. I have been in the room every time. It’s a special privilege for me.”
That sort of person-centred reflection will come as no surprise to anyone who has worked with Alasdair during his time as Managing Partner of Lindsays, a tenure which is drawing to a close and which has seen him navigate opportunities as well as unprecedented challenges, not least the aftermath of a recession and the aftershocks of a pandemic.
Under his watch, the Edinburgh-headquartered independent firm has been clear in its people-first and growth culture, whether that be the way in which it meets the needs of the individuals and businesses it advises or among its team, which now numbers more than 350 lawyers and staff.
Alasdair's paternal pride in their collective achievements - along with the way they are set to shape the full-service firm’s next chapter - is abundantly clear.
“I firmly believe that if you bring good people in, good things happen,” he continues. “I have a great sense of pride in this group of people. The future’s built among them. We have succession planning in place with a new wave coming through of very good people. The firm is in good hands going forward. For me personally, that's very, very rewarding.”
Alasdair will be succeeded on October 1 by Andrew Diamond, the Partner who has been Lindsays’ Head of Residential Property and Estate Agency since joining the firm through its merger with MacLachlan and MacKenzie in 2012.
With the change having been announced in May, the pair have been going through a managed handover for several months.
And while he admits that being Managing Partner has “been my life” for the past 14-and-a-half years, and the decision to step aside is “a big change”, Mr Cummings says it is one that comes at the right time.
He adds: “I am delighted that the business is in such good heart and that Andrew is stepping up. I’m very proud of where we are and where we have got to in these past 15 years, but it’s time for a new voice.
“Andrew is a worthy successor and I will support him in any way that I can.”
While the partnership is in rude health, the economic backdrop amid which Alasdair succeeded David Reith as Managing Partner in 2011 could not have been more challenging, in the aftermath of the global financial crash and recovery from recession.
Indeed, decisions that the corporate and commercial lawyer oversaw during that period - alongside Chief Operating Officer Ian Beattie, with whom he “immediately created a strong working relationship” and has worked closely with throughout his tenure - have shaped the direction of travel for Lindsays since.
“The recession was a baptism of fire,” he recalls. “It was awful for all of us in professional services. Significant names were disappearing or being acquired.
“One of the first decisions I made as Managing Partner was to stop us merging with another firm, which just did not feel right and could have seen the Lindsays name disappear.
“The clear will was to keep Lindsays going. We stood shoulder-to-shoulder. We were all very proud of the fact that we had been going since 1815.
“Then, as the green shoots came through, it was about growing the business, making it more robust. That led to the quite ambitious strategy of making ourselves stronger and the merger process that we have been through since.”
That saw both Shield & Kyd and MacLachlan & MacKenzie become part of Lindsays in 2012, followed by RSB Macdonald in 2015, Aitken Nairn in 2018, Hadden Rankin in 2019 and Miller Hendry in 2023.
Alasdair says: “Each one of them brought good people in, good client bases and bolstered the firm. That flow of growth really helped develop the firm and protect us.
“That strategy has been very successful. It also took us into Dundee, Perth and Crieff.
“We had already moved into Glasgow through our merger with Kidstons in 2008, and the office there is now thriving. I am proud of that. We are not an Edinburgh-headquartered firm with a Glasgow outpost. We are thriving there, thriving in Dundee and growing strongly in Perth.”
Lindsays has been a thread that has run throughout Alasdair's legal career.
Keen to “find a good firm and become a Partner”, he first arrived at Lindsays as a trainee, reporting for work at the Georgian townhouse with spiral staircase in Edinburgh’s Atholl Crescent which was then its home in 1986 - a place he describes as “chalk and cheese” when compared to the open plan offices the firm now embraces.
London came calling in the late 1980s, where he also qualified in English law, branching into new areas of work including asset finance.
It was a path that many followed at that time and one he describes as a “great, challenging and interesting experience” before an opportune meeting with Mr Reith at Heathrow Airport led to his return to Lindsays after a five-year gap in 1993, with the aim of helping to develop its corporate and commercial practice, areas of work which continue to grow.
Alasdair became a Partner in 1994 and was viewed as the natural successor when Mr Reith retired as Managing Partner 17 years later.
And while Lindsays has clearly been career-defining for the outgoing Managing Partner, it has also been significant personally, not least as the place where he met his wife Kirsty, who was a year behind him as a trainee lawyer.
Beyond October 1, Alasdair will remain as Partner, working with the Board in an advisory role where called upon and continuing to chair Lindsays’ Business Unit.
Andrew has already made it clear that he sees Lindsays staying on the path laid by Alasdair and Ian, growing organically through mergers and strong strategic hires, while remaining independent.
“That’s a great place to be,” Alasdair says. “There’s something special about being in control of your own destiny, alongside people you really like being with. That’s a good way to work.
“I am really excited about what the future holds for Lindsays. There are real opportunities for growth. I am sure the firm will get even bigger and stronger, while remaining full-service, which is key to what we do, as well as retaining the people-centred culture for which Lindsays enjoys such a positive reputation.
“Our team is extremely capable. Leading it has been the highlight of my career.”
Published 26 September 2025.
