Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
New sheriff at court
Airdrie Sheriff Court can bank on brilliance on the bench as it welcomed its latest sheriff.
Former Bank of Scotland employee Fergus Thomson was welcomed to the Graham Street venue by Sheriff Principal Ian Abercrombie QC.
Sheriff Thomson studied law at the University of Edinburgh and, as a postgraduate, international banking and finance at Heriot-Watt University.
He trained with Bell & Scott WS in the Scottish capital and qualified as a solicitor in 1996.
Sheriff Thomson was initially a banking solicitor with Dundas & Wilson and Maclay, Murray & Spens, and, subsequently, in litigation as a legal director with the global law firm DLA Piper.
He also worked in structured finance with
Bank of Scotland.
He was called to the Scottish Bar in 2004 and his principal devilmaster was Michael Howlin QC with Gary Allan QC his criminal devilmaster.
Prior to his appointment as a sheriff, Mr Thomson was a Writer to the Signet, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and an Advocate in primarily civil practice, specialising in company and commercial work.
His interests include sports, gardening and the arts.
Sheriff Thomson said: “I am delighted to have been appointed as a full-time sheriff, based at Airdrie.
“I am most grateful for the welcome which has been extended to me, and very much look forward to my future involvement with the courts of the Sheriffdom.”