Wright Johnston & Mackenzie merger deal

Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie (WJM) is set to join forces with commercial law firm Davidson Chalmers Stewart in one of the most significant deals in both firms’ history. This move follows investment in WJM from Irwin Mitchell and marks a major step in their strategic growth plan for Scotland.

Davidson Chalmers Stewart, an independent firm with offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Galashiels, specialises in serving business clients across Scotland. The deal will see more than 70 staff transferring to WJM, enhancing corporate, real estate, and commercial dispute resolution capabilities while improving client services.

Operating under the Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie brand from summer 2025, the combined firm will have over 200 colleagues, including 46 partners across five locations. It will also benefit from the wider Irwin Mitchell network, offering extensive legal services in Scotland, England, and Wales. Their combined expertise spans sectors such as planning, food and drink, renewable energy, real estate, construction, health and social care, and rural business.

Fraser Gillies, Managing Partner of Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie, said this deal adds significant strength to our corporate, real estate and commercial dispute resolution teams as well as bolstering our renewables expertise which is a key area for our business. We’ve long admired Davidson Chalmers Stewart’s business and the reputation it has built in similar markets to those in which we operate and culturally our firms are a great fit. We are looking forward to working alongside the new team to offer an even stronger service to our clients across key services and sectors.

Mark Higgins, Chair of WJM and Managing Partner of Irwin Mitchell Scotland, added Irwin Mitchell began its expansion programme in Scotland by completing a deal to invest in WJM in January last year, and has grown its Scottish team with several new recruits across the year. This latest deal marks a significant milestone in our combined growth journey and we are looking forward to further increasing our market share across a full suite of legal services in Scotland and helping even more clients across the country.

Andrew Chalmers, Chair of Davidson Chalmers Stewart, said our specialist expertise is sought after by Scottish businesses, and joining Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie and the wider Irwin Mitchell Group will now allow us to offer enhanced service lines for our valued clients. Our core values of excellence, loyalty, respect, initiative, and integrity are at the heart of everything we do so it was essential to us that we joined forces with a firm that was the perfect fit, sharing our culture and values as well as offering complementary areas of expertise. We are looking forward to all that we will achieve together.

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