SKO to Cease Practice after 18 years in November 2026
14th September 2026
SKO, the Scottish family law firm, will cease practice on 6 November 2026. Its four partners will continue in practice separately.
Rachael Kelsey is joining Burges Salmon. Susan Oswald, a founding partner of the firm, is stepping back from advisory practice and will continue her mediation practice independently. Alison Edmondson and Robert Gilmour are joining Shepherd and Wedderburn. Ms Kelsey, Ms Edmondson and Mr Gilmour will be establishing new Scottish family law teams at the two firms.
The partners said: “SKO was founded eighteen years ago and quickly became the largest specialist family law practice in Scotland. We have been the only team in Scotland who have remained in the top tier for family law in all of the legal directories for more than ten years. We have acted in some of the highest profile and most complex cases, and at the same time have embedded pro bono representation and public service in our practice. We are incredibly proud of all that we and our colleagues have achieved.
When Susan decided to step back from her advisory practice the firm was going to change, and that allowed us to think things that had been unthinkable before. Opportunities were presented to us to establish new Scottish family law teams, with support behind us that a firm of SKO’s size cannot provide, and we have decided that the time is right to close SKO.”
“Family law in Scotland is in a dynamic place and there is a great deal still to build. We look forward to doing that at our new firms, working with people we have known and respected for many years and where we believe our clients will be well served.”
Clients of the firm are being contacted individually and the firm will be operating as usual for existing and new clients meantime. SKO was founded eighteen years ago, is ranked in Band 1 by Chambers and Partners and top ranked in Legal 500, and has nineteen people.
