The Scotland Senior Partner of Dentons has alienated all its Scottish clients by insulting them in a newspaper interview.

Kenneth Shand, who was chief executive of Scottish firm Maclay Murray & Spens until it merged with Dentons this week, appeared emboldened to the point of lunacy in an interview with the Herald. Welcoming the merger with international firm Dentons, Shand said, “The Scottish marketplace doesn’t have the strongest clients and where you don’t have the best clients you don’t have the best business”.

Sources told RollOnFriday that it was "great" to see Shand "thanking his Scottish clients for their support and business over the past 146 years". One said "I can imagine a few Scottish clients might be picking up the phone..."

Moments later Kenneth realised that he was still stuck there with the people he had maligned.

Dentons PR attempted to mitigate the damage by claiming that Shand had not become totally unhinged. A spokeswoman told RollOnFriday, "Kenneth had been misquoted and we are seeking a correction". She said, "What Kenneth actually said was, 'The Scottish market in itself we saw as having limited opportunities'". However, at the time of publication the Herald's article remained unchanged.

Shand does have form for hyperbole. He almost burst with excitement when he announced in July that struggling MMS had persuaded Dentons to take it over, blithering that "Dentons will unquestionably be the only significant player in Scotland". It remains to be seen how his revelation that Scottish clients are sub-optimal will affect that prediction. But at least Dentons' global status means it can secure him a safe house south of the border. If it wants.

A Scottish client said, "Bampot".