Mr Morrisons’ appointment is part of a tranche of appointments which has seen has construction law specialist Lauren Thomson appointed as a partner and four of the firms’ lawyers promoted as legal directors. 

In this latest promotion round, Alison Rochester, Lucy Hall, Neil Cowan and Gavin Charlton have all been promoted to legal directors.

The appointments are effective as of May 1 this year. 

Mr Morrison and Ms Thomson have both been with the firm since traineeship. 

Mr Morrison is an experienced operator in the UK corporate market and has a wealth of experience in mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, partnerships and private equity, with a focus on the renewable energy, technology and life sciences sectors. 

He is extremely active in the Scottish business community and, in his spare time, supports a number of ambitious entrepreneurs scale their businesses through the RBS Entrepreneur Accelerator, Bright Red Triangle, Launch.ed, the National Launch Academy by Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult and the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation.

Ms Thomson has extensive, UK-wide experience of construction projects, advising employers, contractors, funders and end users across a variety of sectors including energy, retail, hospitality and the public sector. With particular experience in property development and housing projects, she works closely with property and development finance colleagues to provide specialist construction support.

Ms Rochester joined Shepherd and Wedderburn as a trainee in 2008. Since 2012, she has specialised in commercial contracts and, since 2017, has headed up the firm’s trade and commerce team, advising clients in all sectors in relation to their ongoing business and trading requirements. She holds practicing certificates in Scotland, Ireland, and England and Wales.

Ms Hall joined Shepherd and Wedderburn in 2012 and works in the firm’s London office as part of the banking and finance team. She has extensive experience in finance transactions with specialisms in real estate finance, acquisition finance and derivatives transactions. Ms Hall acts for a wide range of lenders, funds and corporate borrowers.

Mr Cowan joined Shepherd and Wedderburn in 2014. While primarily focused on securitisation and structured finance, he operates a broad practice within the banking and finance team, also advising on corporate lending and property finance transactions. Admitted as a solicitor in both Scotland and England and Wales, Mr Cowan advises major UK lenders, financial institutions and companies, regularly working with leading City, international and regional law firms.

Mr Charleton joined Shepherd and Wedderburn as a trainee in 2007 and has over a decade of experience specialising in employee share incentives. He advises public, private and international companies on a wide range of matters relating to share schemes, executive compensation and corporate governance. He is a member of the Share Plan Lawyers Group and the Association of Taxation Technicians.

Andrew Blain, managing partner, said: “These well-deserved promotions recognise our lawyers’ specialist expertise, their knowledge and understanding of the sectors in which they operate, and their ongoing commitment to delivering client service of the highest quality. We congratulate them on their achievement, and wish them every success as they embark on the next stage of their careers at Shepherd and Wedderburn.”