Ryan Russell on rock star start to leading Dundee solicitors MML

The Courier

26-04-2025

When Ryan Russell left law school, being one of Dundee's most recognisable solicitors was not at the forefront of his life plan.
In 2006, Dundee's music scene was bursting. The View were gaining UK acclaim ahead of the release of their debut album and you could scarcely visit a pub or bar without hearing 'the next big thing' strumming away.
Ryan, fresh out of Dundee University, was the singer of rock band Page Six, who played multiple festivals and gigs across Scotland and the UK.
As the band gained popularity Ryan's first go at a traineeship, with Aberdein Considine, faltered.
'They were supposed to be opening an office in Dundee, but didn't and I was travelling everyday to Aberdeen. I absolutely hated it,' Ryan recalls.
'It was in conveyancing and at the time I could not think of anything more boring.
'So after three months I packed it in and followed my heart which was the band.'
Almost two decades later, now aged 41, Ryan was named senior managing partner at MML, one of the city's leading law firms earlier this year.
When the news was announced, Ryan was inundated with calls, texts and emails congratulating him on his promotion and reminders of the huge shoes he has to fill in the wake of former boss John Muir retiring.
So how did a lawyer who jacked in a promising start with a legal behemoth like Aberdein Considine, end up as the head of one of the city's most burgeoning law firms?
Dundee is a city with lawyers who enjoy the reverence and personalities of rock stars. Among them are John, and another was the late Billy Boyle.
It was with Billy where Ryan got his legal career back on track, taking on one of the coveted traineeships many now sitting in the country's courts have sweated through (including The Courier's Martell Maxwell).
'I went to Billy's and I did everything right and I got on really well with him,' Ryan said.
'But no matter how well you did, he would push you and push you. It was like nothing was ever good enough.
'And he always said to me 'you know son, you think you're Premier League, but I'm training you for Champions League'.
'Because every time you did something you felt was decent, he could pick holes in it. It was so frustrating at the time but there was method in the madness.
'And he and John Muir were great pals, but they were also super competitive. John was the leader in employment law and I was coming to the end of my first year with Boyles.
'And Billy couldn't handle that John had the stronghold on employment law in Dundee.
'So he sent me to MML and he said 'right don't tell John, but I want you to go there for three months and learn all about employment law, then come back and we'll start doing it right, and that'll show him!'
'So off I went, but when I went there I just got on so well with John that I never went back.
'And they fell out over it, because Billy had paid for my first year of training. So there was effectively a transfer fee involved. And that's how I ended up at MML.
'Growing up with these local legends was quite the education. Because the legal landscape is so different now.'
It's this old-school, independent, David vs Goliath mindset the former Morgan Academy pupil wants to continue in his new role as senior partner at MML.
The country's legal landscape is changing, he says, with huge firms buying up lots of smaller ones.
And he wants MML to stand out.
'It's a massive USP for us. I'm not against the corporate model, but it's just not me and it's not MML.
'We've just recruited a host of young, eager lawyers. And most important to me, is they are just themselves.
'We've taken a conscious decision to develop young lawyers and it's really exciting. It is a lot of work because you've got to bring them on.
'But when I'm recruiting, I'm not recruiting somebody to fill a hole. I'm recruiting for the next generation to come through.
'And I can say to them 'I started here as a trainee and now I run the business'.'
Ryan has been with MML for 16 years and in that time has represented a range of clients through particularly difficult employment law cases.
These include trials like the internationally reported case of Jason Grant, the male period dignity officer from Tayside axed following a huge public backlash.
The story made CNN, the BBC and the New York Times, with Mr Grant turning down big-money tell-all interviews about his case.
Mr Grant settled out of court for an undisclosed fee.
'As a young lawyer, I would win a big case, then another. And then the press started reporting on it, and then it would get covered all over social media.
'Now, when there is a big case, more often than not we are the ones instructed on it.'
Over the next 10-15 years, Ryan wants to see MML continue in its underdog spirit.
'We want to be the leading independent law firm in Tayside and beyond. We already punch way above our weight.
'But the idea going forward is not so much massive expansion. What we want to do is serve our clients and support our staff the best way we can.
'There are 35 employees at MML just now. And it's always the temptation when you're doing well to expand, to get bigger and better.
'But that was a lesson I learned from John and Billy, they would always say 'don't make the mistakes we made, make sure you always have time for your family'.
'So my golden rule is always making sure I drop my kids off at school, that my work fits around the family and not the other way around.
'At MML, we are about creating the right culture, the right vibe, to be a thorn in the side of all the big corporates.'
Outside of MML, Ryan is involved in a range of other businesses and ventures.
These include teaching at Dundee University's law school, sitting as a non-executive director on the board of Graeme Carling's United Capital, and setting up a glass-recycling company in the wake of council cuts to collections.
Of Doorstep Glass Recycling he says: 'It's something I am so proud of.
'At the start, I was going out and doing the collections myself. And now we have a team and operate across Dundee, Angus, Perth, Aberdeen.
'We always either put the money back into the business, or donate. Supporting foodbanks is a huge thing for us.
'It was about doing something environmentally friendly and giving something back.'