Turcan Connell's Alasdair Loudon retires

Alasdair Loudon, partner at Turcan Connell and a well known family lawyer, has retired after 40 years in practice.

Mr Loudon, who qualified in 1980, began as a general court assistant with Warner & Co, but after 12 years there, 10 as partner, he set up his own firm, Loudons WS, specialising in divorce, personal injury and crime, and a few years later decided to focus purely on family law. In 2001 he was asked to join Turcan Connell to establish a family law team there.

In a blog on the firm's website, he reflects on the changes during his time in practice, from the time when all divorce cases had to be raised in the Court of Session, the law on financial provision brought in by the Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985, which assisted settlement by negotiation, and the "most welcome evolution" since the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 in the attitude of parents to childcare arrangements post-separation, to the extent that shared care arrangements are now very much the norm.

He adds, however: "Regrettably, over the last few years, I’ve observed an increasing reluctance on the part of practitioners to seek early resolution of cases by way of negotiation. Litigation, which should be a last resort, has become more prevalent again. I do hope that that trend can be reversed.

"The most satisfying cases for me have always been those in which at the conclusion of the divorce, the parties have either retained their respect for each other or have had it restored. There are never really any winners in a litigated divorce action because even the seemingly successful spouse will have endured years of trauma while the litigation unfolds and will generally be worse off financially whatever the result."