In 1988, Lorne Crerar and another young partner in a Glasgow court firm took a couple of support staff and converted its business division, which had recently started, into a separate commercial practice. The new start was Harpers, which subsequently took over a niche corporate firm called Macleods, to become Harper Macleod. In 2002, Martin Darroch joined the firm as Finance Director and was appointed Chief Executive in 2006 - Harper Macleod was the first firm in Scotland to appoint a non-lawyer chief executive - with the now Professor Crerar as Chairman. Over the years the firm went from strength to strength, expanding its footprint all over Scotland. In 2014, the firm took over niche private client practice, Bird Semple, to significantly extend its offering in personal legal services.
Today, Harper Macleod is one of the largest professional partnerships in Scotland, serving clients and their interests in Scotland, the UK and beyond and generating in excess of £26 million in turnover - a figure that has consistently grown regardless of the economic backdrop.