A Brief History of Burnetts…

James Burnett started the firm towards the end of the 19th Century, practising under his own name.

His son, Edward, joined him as an articled clerk but his father died in 1932, one year before Edward qualified as a solicitor. Edward joined in Partnership with Sam Yelloly and the practice began to expand. The firm was then known as Yelloly & Burnett and became Burnetts in the late 60’s after Sam Yelloly retired.

Burnetts’ significant period of expansion really started in the late 60’s with the development of specialisms within the firm. Edward Burnett retired in 1975 and his son David Burnett, who had joined the practice in the early 60’s, retired in 1995. By that time Burnetts had developed specialist departments dealing with both commercial and private client work and had developed a particular specialism in education work.