The Partners
Mark Thorley
Following an LLB Honours degree and a Dipl LP, he then spent six years with Edinburgh based Balfour & Manson, first as a trainee then qualified assistant, specialising in reparation, family and criminal law.
In 1992, Mark went on to co-found Blacklock Thorley Solicitors, an Edinburgh firm who specialised in debt recovery, family, criminal and reparation law. In 2005, along with Jim Stephenson, Mark founded Thorley Stephenson. During the last six years, has been in charge of the family law and reparation department of the firm which started with one assistant and now has grown into a team of five lawyers and two trainee solicitors.
“Following many years as a solicitor in private practice, I believe that I have the experience to deal with clients’ problems in a sympathetic manner whilst guiding them towards a desired solution. Many of my clients return to me on a regular basis for advice and I obtain a substantial amount of referral work.”
Jim Stephenson
After attaining an LLB degree at Dundee University, Jim joined the Metropolitan Police in 1982. Four years later he returned to Dundee, gaining a Diploma in legal practice.
Jim has previously been a partner in the firms of Adams and More & Co and, in 1995, was one of the founding partners of WSA (Wardlaw Stephenson Allan) Solicitors, specialising in criminal work. In 2002, Jim was admitted as a Solicitor Advocate and, over the years, has conducted numerous High Court trials and appeared before the Appeal Court in the High Court of Justiciary. Jim, along with Mark Thorley, founded Thorley Stephenson in 2005 since when he has successfully developed a criminal law department and mental health department. The expansion of the firm has led to the opening of a second office in the Cowgate in Edinburgh, the location of the criminal department.
“Since gaining the Solicitor Advocate qualification, I have had the experience of being instructed by a number of other Scottish law firms in High Court cases. In relation to the recent changes regarding the admissibility of interviews of suspects by police officers, I have had to provide a 24-hour service which requires attendance at police stations at short notice. I have also recently argued that the right of a suspect to speak to a lawyer – or have one present during an interview by investigating authorities other than police officers – should be allowed and this argument was accepted in the case of Procurator Fiscal Edinburgh v Pierre Levicky.”
Julian Aitken
Julian Aitken qualified as a solicitor in 1994, since when he has almost exclusively practiced in the field of child law. He set up his own dedicated family law firm at the age of 27 before spending three years as a Children’s Reporter. He joined Thorley Stephenson in 2007 and was appointed as a partner in September 2010.
Julian is one of 18 solicitors in Scotland who are currently accredited by the Law Society of Scotland as a Specialist in Child Law. He was first accredited in 2003 and reaccredited in 2008, making him one of the most experienced solicitors in public child law in Scotland. Since joining Thorley Stephenson he has built up an extensive client base of birth families who are involved in actions where the local authority has sought to intervene in their private and family life. He has been involved in some of the major decisions regarding the development of the new permanence order law brought in by the Adoption and Children Scotland Act 2007. His reputation as a tenacious fighter who protects clients’ parental rights and human rights in public law cases sits alongside his excellent reputation as a strong, concise advocate when appearing before the courts and the Children’s Hearings.
