BALFOUR+Manson has reshaped its management team by appointing a highly experienced adviser to the legal profession as its new Chief Operating Officer.
Scott Foster, who spent 35 years at Royal Bank of Scotland, mainly as a relationship manager to professional service firms, will join the firm on April 3rd.
He has worked as a relationship banker with Balfour+Manson for 18 years.
Mr Foster will work closely with the firm’s 22 Partners as well as HR Director Margaret Peet, Finance Director Ken Dinneen and Mrs Motion.
Mr Foster left Royal Bank in October 2020 to start a training and management consultancy. He has worked with law firms across Scotland to develop commercial efficiencies to allow them to develop their brand and position in the marketplace.
He writes and delivers financial training skills courses on behalf of CLT and the Law Society of Scotland, including working on the Society’s induction training for all new law firm partners.
Elaine Motion, who will work alongside Mr Foster as Executive Chairman, said: “I’m delighted to welcome Scott on board as a familiar face in a brand-new role.
“This high-calibre appointment shows Balfour+Manson understands that you need to think differently about managing a legal firm in 2023.
“Chief Operating Officers are common in the business world generally, but not so much in the legal profession.
“Someone of Scott’s ability and experience will serve our needs very well – allowing our Partners to focus on building up their business areas and developing their teams to ensure further growth.
“We are entering a new and very exciting era in our firm’s history with this new management structure.
“I am really looking forward to working with Scott and this will truly allow others to concentrate on being ‘lawyers’, with all that entails.”
Mr Foster said: “I am thrilled to be taking up this new post with Balfour+Manson, a firm I know well.
“I’ve been fortunate in my previous career to have had a strong relationship with the management team and board.
“I can draw on that experience and knowledge – and similar experience with many other legal firms – in the new Chief Operating Officer Role.
“I’m really looking forward to helping and supporting the Partners to implement and progress their well-thought-through strategy.”
He added: “Balfour+Manson has a long and proud history of adapting to the changing legal climate.
“From employing the first female partner of any Scottish law firm in Ethel Houston to being at the heart of legal challenges to the UK Government’s handling of Brexit, it has always displayed an innovative and pioneering spirit.
“I see my appointment as a continuation of that and further evidence that Balfour+Manson is always a firm that is one step ahead.”
