A Western Isles legal firm is celebrating its 40th anniversary this month.
Macdonald, Maciver & Company took shape in April 1982 when local lawyers Angus “Ramsay” Macdonald and Ian “Shockan” Maciver got together to provide the community with a legal entity able to provide their skills in both Gaelic and English which at the time was much needed.
Mr Macdonald recalled how the collaboration emerged: “I initially intended to start the business on my own but the bank manager at the Royal Bank, Mr Wylie, suggested that if I was intending to do court work then I should think about having someone dealing with the chamber practice.
“He suggested Ian who at that time worked for Bird Semple who had their office where Ken Macdonald is at present. I met Ian at the County Hotel and after a few pints, the rest is history.”
He praised the firm’s current and former staff for their contribution and loyalty over the decades and also thanked the community for their continuing support.
When they opened their doors they had not a single client in their diary but that scenario soon changed with the legal business now one of the largest in the Western Isles, representing a large portion of both commercial and individual clients within the islands.
Ian Maciver has now retired but Ramsay is the main court lawyer in the Western Isles, representing the majority of individuals at Lochmaddy and Stornoway sheriff courts.
Over a century of intertwined family history bonds the pair, Both Lewis men have a strong connection to the village of Bragar and their fathers were shipmates on the same Royal Navy destroyer in World War II.
The link stretches back even further as their grandfathers once astonished the whole village by sauntering in to their own wake after being declared dead when their fishing boat was swept away in a storm off the Atlantic coast of Lewis. Mourning turned to celebration on their wholly unexpected appearance.
The family connection continues with Angus’ daughter Lauren and Ian’s son Jonathan now both qualified solicitors employed by the business, ably assisted by lawyer Eilidh Macinnes from Lochs.
Island law firm celebrates 40 years in business
13 April 2022
Ian Maciver and Angus Macdonald joined forces in 1982