From Hull to the Indian Ocean to help deal with a case

The commercialisation of the law and the creation of global law firms.

What law would you like to see changed?

Families of missing people need ‘presumed dead’ certificates so they can deal with their financial affairs.

It is unfair and traumatic for families in their most extreme and painful personal circumstances to have to deal with financial documents and institutions.

What is the most exciting work you’ve ever done?

Probably not the most exciting case but the most exciting circumstances.

It was a normal day in the office and I was due to visit a wintry Brussels – my suitcase was packed full of warm clothing.

Later that day I took a call to see if I could be in La Reunion in the Indian Ocean the following afternoon to deal with a vessel that had been detained by the French Navy for illegal fishing.

I left for the airport immediately. I spent the week dealing with the vessel and negotiating with the authorities before returning to the UK.

Who in the legal world do you most admire?

Someone who died in the late 1920s, but who I read about in my teens and find fascinating: Sir Edward Marshall Hall. He was a barrister of the late Victorian and Edwardian period.

He was a wonderful orator, and made inspiring appeals to juries.

One of his most famous was in the trial of a prostitute for murder when he made a plea to the jury: “Look at her, gentlemen, God never gave her a chance. Won’t you?”

What advice would you give someone starting out in the profession?

Take your time to decide which area of the law you wish to specialise in; find an area of work you enjoy and a firm where you fit; and make the most of it.

Work hard but realise there is a life out there.