Tom Marshall

He qualified as a solicitor in 1984 and has concentrated on civil litigation ever since. Before joining Thompsons in 2001 he had been the senior litigation partner in the Edinburgh office of a major Scottish law firm from 1988. His practice included insolvency, professional negligence and property claims as well as personal injury work. He qualified as a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in 1993 and as a solicitor advocate with rights of audience in the Court of Session, House of Lords and Privy Council in 1995. He has exercised those rights regularly ever since in both the Outer and Inner Houses of the Court of Session.

In the early 1990s he was the Secretary of the Eurocopy Complainers' Advisory Group, set up to advise customers of office equipment suppliers who had become caught up in onerous contracts for the hire and maintenance of photocopiers and to campaign for greater protection for customers entering into unregulated credit agreements. He is also and for some years has been a member of the committee of the Society of Solicitor Advocates.

In 2001 he was invited to join Thompsons by Frank Maguire to concentrate on asbestos cases. As well as representing individual clients and their families, Tom is also involved in the campaigning work headed by Frank, including negotiations with the government following the collapse of Chester Street Insurance and on the drafts of the Rights of Relatives (Mesothelioma) Act, and on the preparation of submissions concerning other proposals for law reform. Tom is a member of a Scottish Law Commission advisory group relating to the current consultation into further review of the Scots law of damages on wrongful death.

Tom is also involved in continuing legal education. He has trained at an advanced advocacy course with the National Institute for Trial Advocacy. He has conducted seminar sessions for members of the medical profession as well as lawyers and has had articles published on a variety of legal topics.