If you’ve had a look through the Scottish Legal Awards 2026 shortlist and noticed one name missing, don’t worry – there’s no administrative error.
We simply didn’t enter this year.
Now, before anyone starts wondering whether we’ve suddenly become shy, I can assure you that’s not the case.
The decision was made some time ago and, after a lot of discussion internally, we felt it was the right one.
Last year was an outstanding year for Neilsons at the Scottish Legal Awards. We were fortunate enough to receive significant recognition including winning Firm of the Year (under 250 staff members), Property Team of the Year and Marketing and Business Development team of the year – and while awards are never the reason we do what we do, it would be disingenuous to pretend we weren’t incredibly proud of the success our team achieved.
That said, we’ve always tried to keep a sense of perspective. Neilsons started life in a small office in Corstorphine in 1977 with just a Solicitor, a Secretary, a Cashier and a Property Valuer. Nearly five decades later, we’re a very different business, but the mindset hasn’t changed. We still believe success comes from regarding client service to be of paramount importance and continuously improving what we offer.
Since the last Scottish Legal Award entries, we’ve hardly been sitting still or resting on laurels.
Over the last 12 months we’ve completed a major renovation of our head office, invested heavily in improving our systems and processes, including new AI driven features, continued to enhance our estate agency and legal services, welcomed new talent across the business, increased our market share, launched a new website, expanded our community partnerships and charity work, and continued to grow as a firm. We’re currently number one for listings, number one for properties marked as Under Offer and number one for properties sold on both ESPC and Rightmove.
In short, we’ve been busy.
But as this year’s Scottish Legal Awards season approached, we found ourselves asking a simple question: should we enter again this year?
The answer, perhaps surprisingly, was no, and here’s why:
Scotland’s legal profession is full of exceptional firms doing exceptional work. The same is true across the property profession.
There is no shortage of innovation, talent and commitment, and awards such as these provide an important opportunity to recognise and celebrate that.
After the success we enjoyed last year, stepping back felt like the right thing to do. Not because we’ve run out of ambition, and certainly not because we’ve run out of things to shout about, but because we want to give others in the legal profession a platform to enjoy the same success and recognition we have enjoyed in recent years.
We’ll continue to invest, improve, and grow. We’ll continue to support our communities. And we’ll continue to look for ways to raise standards across everything we do.
As for this year’s finalists, we’d like to offer our sincere congratulations. We know the work that goes into building a successful legal business, and we’re pleased to see so many firms receiving the recognition they deserve.
We’ll be cheering from the sidelines at the Scottish Legal Awards this year!
