Rob Aberdein will join the firm as managing partner.

Known as an upmarket residential property specialist, the 26-strong team of Simpson & Marwick will move into dedicated new offices and will continue to focus on the property markets in Edinburgh and East Lothian.

The residential property division was a niche area of the legal practice when Simpson & Marwick as a whole merged with and changed its name to Clyde & Co in 2015.

Since then the merged firm has focused on the growth of its core specialisms of dispute resolution, professional liability, insurance, commercial property, healthcare and employment law. Clyde & Co will no longer include residential property as part of its offering in Scotland.

Richard Loudon, partner, who steps up to chairman after 41 years with the firm, said: “We move with the full support of Clyde & Co as the services we offer are not part of their global core areas of expertise. The time is right, for both Clyde & Co and ourselves, to de-merge our residential property division.

“I am delighted that we can continue to protect the legacy of the Simpson & Marwick brand established in 1886. We will take it forward into a new era, unlike so many well established and respected Edinburgh law firms that have disappeared in recent years.”

As well as Richard Loudon’s continuing leadership, the firm will be spearheaded by the existing team of solicitor director Bobby Fife and by property directors, Louisa Raistrick, Katie Macdonald and Dianne Jennings, who offer decades of combined legal and estate agency experience.