This week we’re celebrating Brodies! Brodies is a full service law firm with more than 800 colleagues, which provides legal advice and services to individuals, businesses and organisations, on a diverse range of matters. Hear from Partner Sarah Lilley about why she’s proud to serve the Highlands, the firm’s commitment to opportunities for young people, and some upcoming events to help charities and businesses.
Our firm has a long history of working with clients across the Highlands and Islands, and in 2022, we opened the office in Cradlehall Business Park. We’re now a team of 25 in the Inverness office, so we’ve grown significantly in the past two years.
Meet Sarah Lilley
I’m a partner in our family law team, and I lead a locally-based team of family lawyers in the Inverness office who support and advise clients on matters including separation, divorce, co-habitation, and disputes involving children.
I’ve always been interested in society and people, and there’s nothing quite like being in a role where you can make a positive impact on a client’s life. For me, that’s the best part of being a family lawyer.
Embracing Challenges
Overcoming challenges and finding solutions is a large part of what we do, that’s why clients come to us. Sometimes there can be a perception that the law is a blocker, but we see it as more of an enabler – it enables us to protect people and businesses, and to empower them too.
Challenges can also be a good thing in some circumstances; they instigate change. For the legal sector, the Covid pandemic resulted in an accelerated use of technology and many of those changes that were introduced in 2020 remain – for example, the use of video calls for some client meetings and for some parts of the court process too.
These developments have been particularly valuable for the rural parts of the Highlands, as well as for people whose circumstances mean attending an in-person meeting is challenging. In my role it means I spend less time travelling and can use that time to focus on client work.
Recent Success
Our firm has just been ranked by the Legal 500 2025 guide and the Chambers UK 2025 guide – these are annual legal directories that rank firms and individual lawyers according to the work they do, and what their clients and peers say. We achieved 33 top-tier rankings across our practice areas with Legal 500 and another 38 with Chambers, so we’re delighted with those. We’ve also recently been shortlisted for corporate law firm of the year at the forthcoming Insider Dealmakers Awards, and four of the transactions we supported on – including investment in transforming Ardersier Port into a major energy transition facility – are finalists in various deal of the year categories.
Chamber Connections
Being a member of the Chamber provides the opportunity to meet, listen to, and connect with interesting people. The level of innovation, creativity and ambition that is present across the Highlands and Islands is inspiring and I think the Chamber plays a key role in ensuring those stories are heard.
I have also served on the Chamber’s board since April 2023. The Chamber has helped to raise my professional profile within the local business community since my arrival in Inverness in 2012, and I wanted to give something back. It’s a real pleasure to see new businesses join and now derive the same benefits that I received. I have gained significant insight into the issues facing local businesses and enjoy helping members to have their voices heard
I’m particularly enjoying the Chamber’s ‘Inside Stories’ events. Particularly memorable for me was the evening held with The Ledge earlier this year, I was really inspired by the work that they are doing – and the opportunity to try out the climbing wall was fun too!
What’s next?
It’s an exciting time to be in the Highlands, there is a lot of investment happening at the moment and huge potential arising from the green freeport, the energy transition and land use. We’ll continue to support clients across the region, with their business ambitions and challenges, and personal circumstances too.
We’ll also continue to invest in our people, and in growing the team to build on our sector specialisms and legal experience, so that we can help more clients.
And third, is to continue supporting the community in which we live and work. That means supporting those organisations that are making a positive difference, and also engaging with more young people across the region about the diverse and exciting career opportunities in the legal sector, many of which they may not be aware of.
The Highlands has a challenge in retaining its younger population, who often leave the region to seek out employment and career opportunities. It’s the responsibility of employers like us to show our young people that there are many great careers opportunities available to them here and now, and also in the years to come.
We regularly hold online and in-person events on the topics that are of most importance to clients; upcoming changes or common issues that affect sectors. Some examples coming up in November include our event for charities at Kingsmills Hotel on 12 November and one for HR professionals on 20 November, being held at our Inverness office.
Information on all our sessions can be found on our events page and narrowed down by expertise area or location.
Thank you to Sarah and the Brodies team for featuring as our Member of the Week!