Ms Maxfield, from Carnoustie, studied at Dundee University with her third year of law completed at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. She began her career as a trainee with Thorntons after graduating in June 2005 qualifying as a member of the intellectual property team two years later. In 2014 Loretta became dual-qualified in English law.

One of her key areas is data protection and she works with a range of clients from SMEs to educational and research establishments and large multinational companies. In addition to data protection, she advises on general commercial contracts, information technology, regulatory compliance and media-related issues.

Ms Maxfield is also a member of the Law Society of Scotland’s Intellectual Property Law reform Sub-Committee. In 2014 she was seconded to the research team at the James Hutton Institute for nine months.

Mr Francis, from Fife, studied at the University of Edinburgh. He joined Thorntons shortly after qualifying in May 2007. He began his career with the firm in their commercial property team before moving to specialise in corporate work.

Working on a wide range of corporate projects, he has a particular focus on the education sector. He is heavily involved in advising a number of the firm’s university clients on corporate governance, constitutional matters and international projects.

At Thorntons he sits on the internal Brexit Committee, tracking progress of political and legal developments and the impact they are likely to have on clients and key sectors. Mr Francis spent five months on secondment in 2015 at the Office of Advocate General for Scotland where he was involved in providing legal advice to the UK government in relation to Scotland.

Colin Graham, chairman at Thorntons, said: “We see these excellent twin appointments as pivotal to our future growth aspirations. It’s great to start the New Year here at Thorntons with promotions within our team. We see it as vital to promote from within and to continue to develop our own talent.

“We will continue to invest in training and internal development of our people going forward providing motivation for our colleagues and trust for our clients. Congratulations to our new partners Robbie and Loretta for their well-deserved promotions.”