Kennedys' head of insurance on long conversations in the back of a cab and a treasured brown suit

Why did you become a lawyer? The chances of making a living as a cricketer or an actor seemed very slim and when I tried the law I found it was fun.

Who has been the biggest influence on your career? Harry Hails, who kicked off the Kennedys insurance practice in the 1970s. He was a clever academic lawyer and a practical solver of client problems. Perhaps his greatest quality was his generosity. He was always prepared to share his knowledge, contacts and time.

What's your proudest professional moment? I like to think it is yet to come.

Worst day on the job? I spent a day in Holland visiting a client and returned on a very late flight with a bundle of original papers, which I had not copied. In the taxi on the way home I got into a long conversation with the cabbie and managed to leave the papers behind. I did not sleep well that night. The following morning it came back to me that one of the stories the taxi driver had told me involved the fact that he drove regularly for a particular magic circle partner whom he had named. I rang the partner, who had the driver's number, and the papers were delivered to me by lunchtime. It was then I decided that I am essentially lucky.

Aside from your own firm which lawyer do you most admire and why? Peter Rogan of Ince & Co and David Gold of Herbert Smith. Both very good at getting positive results without pomposity.

What is your strongest characteristic? I am quite good at spotting the arrival of curve balls – like this question.

What advice would you give to young lawyers starting out? If you throw yourself into finding solutions for your clients enthusiastically, take the job but not yourself seriously and never wear a brown suit you will be amazed by what you can achieve.

What most annoys you about the legal profession? Behaviour by certain lawyers which leads clients to conclude that the aim of the legal profession is to make money for lawyers rather than save money for clients. The quality of lawyers in the UK is generally first rate and legal services are among our greatest exports but we all have a responsibility to ensure they are priced properly.

What is the best part of your job? Planning strategies internally or with clients and having them work out.

What's the worst corporate event you've ever attended? Most of the worst ones have involved greyhound racing but I am pleased to say I cannot recall the details.

Most memorable deal you ever have worked on and why? Just as mediation was becoming fashionable I became involved in a multi-party insurance dispute. It was admittedly worth a very large sum of money but quite how we managed to stretch the mediation to six days I am not sure. The country hotel was very comfortable and at three in the morning on the final day we did a deal – but I trust and hope that as everyone has become more familiar with the mediation process this is a record which has not been exceeded.

What will be the most significant market trend in your practice area over the next 12 months? There has been a realisation that if you can access detailed historical information concerning the life cycle of insurance claims you can have a pretty good stab at predicting the future and improving claim handling. The insurers and law firms that provide the technology to allow this will be the success stories of the next few years.

What's your favourite item of clothing? The brown suit which I proudly wore when I first started in the law but which was quickly put back in the wardrobe (see previous question).

What's your favourite cheese? Lancashire (even though it comes from the wrong side of the Pennines).

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