Four senior lawyers promoted to partner at Thorntons

Susan Duff, Michelle Adam, Amanda Wilson and Debbie Fellows have been made partners at Thorntons, having previously been associates at the firm.

The promotions will build on a year in which both turnover and profits increased at Thorntons.

They also represent a significant step towards achieving gender equality amongst the most senior staff at Thorntons, with females now representing 40 per cent of partners at the firm.

The new partners’ areas of expertise reflect Thorntons’ diverse service offering to private and business clients and their wide geographic spread.

Ms Fellows, who works between the firm’s Dundee and Perth offices, specialises in employment law. She joined the Thorntons team in 2011 and has been accredited as an employment law specialist by the Law Society of Scotland since 2010.

Ms Wilson, who is based in Dundee, is a specialist in family law. She joined Thorntons as a trainee in 2005 and was accredited as a specialist in family law in 2014 by the Law Society of Scotland.

Based in Thorntons’ Cupar office, Ms Duff helps clients with regard to planning for the future including wills, powers of attorney and inheritance tax planning. She is also part of the firm’s land and rural business team addvising farmers, landowners and other rural businesses.

Ms Duff originally trained at Thorntons before holding a senior role at another Fife firm. She was with Steel Eldridge Stewart when it merged with Thorntons in 2014.

Ms Adam joined Thorntons in 2008 and qualified as a as a solicitor advocate with civil rights of audience in the Supreme Courts in 2013.

Based in Thorntons’ Edinburgh office, she specialises in personal injury claims and has a particular interest in employers’ liability and clinical negligence cases.

Scott Milne, joint managing partner in Thorntons, said: “All four new partners are highly experienced and respected figures and their promotions are well deserved.

“This role will allow such experienced and highly capable people to collaborate with the partnership to drive the business forward and further enhance our service for clients.”

Last year, the firm climbed 33 places to eighth in this year’s Business Insider SME 300 table following a year in which both turnover and profits grew.

Figures released earlier this year revealed that Thorntons’ turnover increased by £3.7 million as the business continued to expand.