There has been a changing of the guard among Scotland's largest law firms, with McGrigors slipping from fifth to sixth position, and fellow Glaswegian firm Golds falling three places from second to fifth. Their places were taken over by Dundas & Wilson, Shepherd & Wedderburn and Brodies.

In rankings published with the Legal 500 directory last Thursday Dundas & Wilson climbed three places to seize the joint number one position alongside Maclay Murray & Spens.

While Dundas boosted fee-earner numbers in Scotland by 7% to 264, those at Maclays were constant at 264.

Meanwhile, Shepherd & Wedderburn climbed one place to assume third position, after boosting Scottish fee-earners number 3.6% to 254.

In terms of London fee earners, McGrigors remains the biggest Scottish-based firm, with 117, followed by Dundas & Wilson (96), Maclay Murray & Spens (82) and Shepherd & Wedderburn (41).

In the Scottish market, however, McGrigors appears to have reached a plateau, with partner numbers constant at 52 and Scotland-based fee earners flat at 232.

Meanwhile, Golds saw fee-earner numbers slide by 3% to 246 and its partner numbers slump by 30% to seven following its takeover by the UK's largest provider of commoditised legal services, Irwin Mitchell.

Brodies - which has given London a wide berth to focus on Scotland - leapfrogged McGrigors to surge from sixth to fourth place in Scotland. The Edinburgh-based firm, which gained a Glasgow base through last year's merger with Bishop Solicitors, experienced a 42% surge in fee-earner numbers to 250. Partner numbers grew by 40% to 52.

However, managing partner Bill Drummond blames a low revenue per lawyer of £181,000 on the firm's investment in people over the past year.

Brodies' clients were "full of praise" for its commercial litigation department led by the firm's chairman Joyce Cullen and the Legal 500 directory said its 70-strong commer- cial property team "continues to go from strength to strength".

In Scottish terms, the second-fastest climber was Edinburgh-based Anderson Strathern, which soared from 13th to seventh position after growing its fee-earner base by 27% to 161. The firm benefited from several lateral hires during 2006, including MacRoberts' former head of employment, Alan Masson, and McGrigors' Murray McCall.

Turcan Connell, the Edinburgh-based private client -specialist that celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, also put in a strong performance, rising from ninth to eighth position in the rankings after growing fee-earner numbers by 8.5% to 153.

The directory said the firm is "increasingly successful in attracting high-net-worth divorce work, because of its strong capabilities in cross-border negotiations and strength in collaborative family law".

Other significant climbers included DLA Piper, Tods Murray, HBJ Gateley Wareing and Burness.

DLA Piper Scotland was described as "definitely a firm to watch" while the directory said that Burness - which recently emerged as the firm with the second-highest profit per equity partner in Scotland - "continues to gather momentum, with an increasingly impressive clientele".

However, some mid-range firms in Scotland appear to be coming under pressure. Significant fallers in the Legal 500 chart included MacRoberts (Scottish fee earners down 11.9% to 141), Morton Fraser (Scottish fee earners down 12% to 129) and Simpson and Marwick (Scottish fee earners down 8% to 92).

The fall at Morton Fraser may have been connected with its opening of a London office during the period.

Even though MacRoberts shrank in size, the firm won kudos for its "down-to-earth, commercial approach" and its head of tax, Isobel d'Inverno, was praised as a "client favourite". In property litigation, the firm was described as offering "good value for money".

Edinburgh and London-based firm Dickson Minto was, once again, singled out for special praise by the directory, which said: "Dickson Minto WS is in a class of its own when it comes to corporate finance."

According to the directory: "The firm is a top player in the Scottish market for M&A (mergers and acquisitions) and private equity but also gives the London Magic Circle firms a run for their money. Clients say they have a commercial approach with sectoral knowledge and strengths which cannot be easily matched in the Scottish market'."

Legal 500 was also positive about Dundas & Wilson, saying the firm "maintains excellent capability in all practice areas, enjoying particular strength in corporate finance, PFI, employment, real estate and commercial litigation."

The directory highlighted its role in advising the Bank of Scotland joint ventures on its £325m takeover of Wyevale Garden Centres and the management buy-out of Production Network Services. The firm's employment team, led by Eilidh Wiseman, was said to be capable of "competing with the cream of City employment lawyers on litigation issues".

Legal 500 described MMS, led by chief executive Magnus Swanson, as having had a "stellar year". The firm is carving a niche in deal-making in the fund management sector, having advised Mellon Financial on its acquisition of Walter Scott & Partners and Aberdeen Asset Management on the sale of its private-client business to Brewin Dolphin. The directory said MMS had established a "corporate foothold" in the north-east after hiring several partners from Iain Smith Solicitors.

While Shepherd & Wedderburn failed to garner quite such effusive plaudits in the text of the Legal 500 directory, the firm was top-rated in the fields of commercial property, energy, European Union and competition, intellectual property, pensions, PFI and planning. The directory highlighted the Edinburgh-based firm's role in advising Cairn Energy on the flotation of its Indian subsidiary.

The arrival of partner John Schmidt from Shearman & Sterling in London was described as "a real coup for the firm's EU and competition capability".

The directory glossed over the defection of several energy lawyers McGrigors had earlier poached from Aberdeen firm Ledingham Chalmers, to Bond Pearce, a firm which until recently was focused on the south-west of England.

However, it did say that McGrigors' construction lawyer Brandon Nolan was "particularly recommended" and that its tax unit, led by Ian Gordon, provides "excellent tax advice on M&A transactions as well as property matters."

Meanwhile the Aberdeen-based firm Paull & Williamsons, which is understood to have brushed off takeover advances from CMS Cameron McKenna last year, was described as "extremely strong in corporate finance" and its corporate finance department was described as "leading the market in northern Scotland, but can more than hold its own against most firms in Edinburgh or Glasgow."

No wonder larger firms keep trekking up to Aberdeen to knock on its door.