Richard Masters appointed as Chairman of Scotland & Northern Ireland

Pinsent Masons has more than 500 lawyers and support staff based in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Belfast. Mr Masters, who hails from Lisburn, joined law firm McGrigors as a graduate lawyer 30 years ago and was the firm’s managing partner at the time of the 2012 merger with Pinsent Masons.

After three years as Pinsent Masons’ Head of Client Operations and a member of the executive board, he became executive chairman of Cerico, the compliance and regulatory specialist which is majority owned by Pinsent Masons. He will continue as a non-executive director of Cerico which has grown from a start-up business to an established ‘new-law’ innovator with a range of global clients in the fast-developing compliance market.

The post became vacant after the death due to illness of McGrigors/Pinsent Masons stalwart Kirk Murdoch earlier this year.

Mr Masters said: “I am delighted and honoured to take on the role of Chairman for Scotland and Northern Ireland and will build on the foundations laid down by Kirk Murdoch who was a strong influence on me both personally and professionally.

“My objective is to support our lawyers in Scotland and Northern Ireland in maintaining and growing our market share and reputation, while making a significant contribution to the firm’s overarching ambition of being the market leader in the global sectors in which we operate.

“Our financial performance over the last few years demonstrates the market is very supportive of the range and depth of services which Pinsent Masons can bring to the table and with the support of my colleagues I look forward to consolidating that position.”

Pinsent Masons Managing Partner, John Cleland, added: “Richard’s previous experience at executive board level and his successful tenure in charge of Cerico will be instrumental in further strengthening Pinsent Masons’ offering to clients in Scotland and Northern Ireland.”