THEY were the enfants terribles of Edinburgh's legal fraternity, referring to clients as "friends" and riding Harley Davidsons in flamboyant TV advertisements to drum up custom. Husband and wife solicitors Gordon and Maria Thomson firewalked in their spare time, wore biker leathers, and their law offices rocked every morning to the tune of Tina Turner's Simply the Best.
But a spectacular fall from grace saw the pair struck off by the Law Society of Scotland in 1995, amid allegations of misuse of the Legal Aid system, which they always denied. The couple, who sold their luxury house in Colinton to pay for legal fees against the Law Society, left the country "to go travelling", returning penniless the following year when Maria was pregnant with their fourth child Keanu, conceived in Hawaii.
At one stage in 1999, Maria spent 11 days on hunger strike outside the Law Society offices in the Capital's Drumsheugh Gardens, in a desperate bid to clear their names.
Perhaps surprisingly, Maria says she holds no bitterness and is able to laugh about much of what went on in that period. Displaying the sense of humour that got her through the hard times, she jokes about the hunger strike that saw her lose more than a stone: "My friends used to call it the Drumsheugh diet. What girl can't afford to lose a few pounds?"
Now living in Kingussie, in the Highlands, Gordon, 48, who reinvented himself as a coffee entrepreneur and still "helps out" with the police box coffee bars he founded in Edinburgh, is now in property development, while Maria, 46, is a full-time author. Her first novel, co-written with journalist Linda Watson-Brown, has just been published by Avon, and the friends are currently working on the third book in the series.
Dark Angels is an atmospheric thriller set against the backdrop of Edinburgh's legal world. It's a subject Maria is well-versed in, having worked as a lawyer since her early 20s, rising to be a partner in Ross Harper & Murphy - where fellow partners included Defence Secretary Des Browne and late First Minister Donald Dewar - before founding Gordon Thomson and Co with her husband in 1990.
The couple were famed for their flamboyant approach, playing Tina Turner at their offices in the mornings to spur them on and renaming their legal drop-in centres, which offered Gameboys for waiting clients, "law cafes".
Maria giggles as she recalls: "We looked at what they were doing in Japan and America and tried to emulate that. I was into neuro-linguistic programming and positive thinking. I believe in it 100 per cent and live my life by it. I believe in all sorts of mad things but it's more acceptable as a writer than as a lawyer."
On a more serious note, she is adamant that though the couple's approach may have been unorthodox, they did a lot of good.
"Our legal cafes had fruit for kids because the conditions some of them lived in were terrible," she says. "We were also very involved in drug rehabilitation and used to take people bowling. We would get people into rehab even if they weren't our clients."
The plot of Dark Angels surrounds the murder of a celebrated Edinburgh lawyer outside an infamous gay haunt. The central character is a headstrong, unorthodox lawyer - sounding familiar already? - Brodie McLennan, appointed to defend notorious dominatrix Kailash Coutts, who stands accused. It becomes apparent that a serial killer is at work in the city and that powerful people are intent on covering up past crimes. Brodie herself becomes a target - of the killer and of deadly forces in the highest circles.
LAWMAN: Gordon Thomson aboard his Harley
Maria, who began writing while still a criminal lawyer, often scribbling away in the well of court, admits that she drew much inspiration from her own career. "It's work of fiction, but if people want to know what the Scottish legal system is like..." she laughs gently, "they can find the truth in fiction."
The trained hypnotist and psychic reveals that the book touches on the influence of secret societies in the Scottish legal system. "We were always aware that there were certain societies. Because of the Masonic connections in the judiciary and legal establishment, justice isn't always done. It's a big problem. There are societies in Edinburgh that at one point 80 per cent of the judiciary belonged to, recruited at the University."
The old boy network in the Scottish legal system is something Maria experienced early in her career when she was asked in an early interview what school she had attended and what her father did for a living. And a run-in with a sheriff, who she claims is still serving, when she was looking for her first job, has haunted her to this day.
"When I went for a job interview I was taken to the Sheriff Court library and he chased me around the table making improper suggestions," says Maria. "That coloured my view somewhat."
However, Maria is keen to point out there are still many of her former colleagues for whom she maintains a high regard.
"Lots of Edinburgh lawyers are my friends and I think some of our older judges are so clever," she says. Her friends in the legal profession are reportedly "very excited" about her novel. "Some have read it and although it's a work of fiction they try to find out who they recognise," she declares.
Though the author admits she and her husband enjoyed a very good lifestyle in the early 1990s, it was based on a lot of hard work. "We were quite glamorous," she recalls. "We aroused a lot of jealousy in the legal profession. It was the fact that it was the two of us doing well.
"Our lifestyle was working 24/7 - though we had loads of money, we had a 24-hour helpline in our bedroom. It was mostly Legal Aid but because other lawyers wouldn't pass us work; we had to do a lot without Legal Aid too. They said we used to steal people's clients but we believed people should have freedom of choice. It was just at the time when advertising was allowed but no one was really doing it."
Except the Thomsons. Gordon will forever be remembered for featuring, astride a Harley Davidson, in a high-profile advertising campaign for his firm's services, during which he proclaimed himself to be "a great man to have on your side".
Maria insists that they only bought the motorbike because having left Ross Harper & Murphy, where they both worked, to set up their own business, money was tight. "We had to ditch the fancy cars, but it turned into a marvellous marketing tool."
As to the future, with her own career in law up in smoke, she and Linda intend to keep on writing about the legal establishment, under the pseudonym Grace Monroe. "A number of Edinburgh lawyers of our vintage have complained to us that there are no characters in the law anymore," she says with a wry smile. "I tell them 'that's because you chased us all out'."
