Post Office Inquiry live blog: what will the lawyers say?
As lawyers prepare to take the hot seat over the coming months, The Lawyer’s blog will give live updates as they appear in the Post Office Horizon Inquiry.
The Lawyer
The Lawyer
“Sometimes specialising opens up more doors than it closes.”
Name: Matthew Merkle Organisation: Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison Role: Partner and head of European capital markets Based: London Trained at: N/A (US-qualified lawyer) Year qualified: 2009 What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee/pupil? As a junior associate in New York, my most vivid impression was a sense of being overwhelmed by […]
Unlocking opportunities: Why universities must embrace the SQE
The legal landscape in England and Wales is rapidly transforming with the introduction of the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE). This shift in the qualification process for legal professionals is reshaping the traditional route to becoming a solicitor, and by 2032, all existing routes will be officially phased out, making it the sole option for aspiring […]
“Recruiters told me I’d never be able to work at a big firm in England”
Name: Ainslie Cranwell Organisation: Volvo Group Role: Group Litigation Counsel Based: London Trained at: Dentons (formerly Fisher Jeffries – Adelaide, South Australia) Year qualified: 2010 What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee? I was sent on quite a few errands as a trainee. I took the view that they were nice breaks from […]
“I had to choose between going to work in New York or going in-house”
Name: Spencer Davis Organisation: Lifezone Metals Role: Group General Counsel Based: London Trained at: Lewis Silkin Year qualified: 2002 What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee? There are so many. Playing cricket in a square behind Fleet Street, running down to the RCJ to pay fees, microfiches and bundling at all hours, learning […]
“I told my interviewer I wanted to meet Jack the Ripper”
Name: Sarah Rafi Organisation: Ardonagh Advisory Role: Deputy General Counsel Based: London Trained at: Ashurst Year qualified: 2010 What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee? Strangely, after so many years, quite a lot of my training contract remains incredibly vivid – probably because it was a time of so many new experiences and […]
“Don’t worry about your background: I’m from a state school in Poland”
Name: Kajetan Wandowicz Organisation: 4 Pump Court Role: Barrister Location: London Trained at: 4 Pump Court Year qualified: 2018 What’s your most vivid memory from being a pupil? Being invited to join my chambers. It was a sunny morning in late June, still some three months away from the completion of pupillage, and my co-pupil […]
“I was one of those trainees who left a bag of client documents on a train”
Name: Ranjit Dhindsa Organisation: Fieldfisher Role: Head of employment, pensions, immigration and compliance practice Based: Birmingham Trained at: Warren & Allen Year Qualified: 1994 What is your most vivid memory from being a trainee pupil? Leaving a bag containing client documents on a train by accident. This was before the days when such a mistake […]
“I was told a lawyer and a doctor would find it hard to have a relationship and careers”
Name: Geraint Davies Organisation: Howes Percival Role: Chairman Based: Leicester Trained at: Mackrell Turner Garrett, London Year Qualified: 1991 What is your most vivid memory from being a trainee? I’ll never forget an incident at one of my first trials while I was a trainee. My client, who was bringing a personal injury claim, was […]
“I thought I was going to be fired… but then he showed me his foot”
Name: Stella Wong Organisation: Hogan Lovells Role: Partner, patent litigation Based: London Trained at: Hogan Lovells Year qualified: 2007 What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee? Someone more senior than me came into my office, looked over his shoulder and shut the door. My first thought was that I must be in big […]
The JLD blog: Celebrating the unsung heroes of law
There’s a popular saying in the cultural zeitgeist that not all heroes wear capes. There’s an addendum that should be added to that within the confines of the legal industry that not all heroes are qualified solicitors, Partners or industry leaders- in fact, arguably the largest contingent of unsung heroes are paralegals. Paralegals often form […]
“Going to a four-day week 20 years ago was the best career move I ever made”
Name: David Hunter Organisation: Bates Wells Role: Senior counsel Based: London Trained at: Freshfields Year qualified: 1994 What’s your most vivid memory from being a trainee? Taking my mum into Freshfields’ offices (on Fleet St) one weekend to show her where I worked and that her years standing on Preston market selling greetings cards […]