LG restructuring partner Steven Cottee tells of his bake-off victory and encourages good dental hygiene

What's your proudest professional moment? Managing to qualify as a solicitor and, not far behind that, finishing second place in the highly competitive secondee bake-off while I was on secondment at the Royal Bank of Scotland.

…and worst day on the job? We were about to complete a pre-pack administration at 7pm on Christmas eve only to find out that the appointment documents that had just been faxed to the High Court had not been received as the High Court fax machine was out of paper.

What's the closest you have come to doing something other than law? See above.

Aside from your clients, which business figure do you most admire and why? Sir Philip Green, for his ability to continue to make money whatever the economic climate. Although arguably it would be nice if he paid some UK income tax as well.

What's the best business book you have read? Too Big to Fail by Andrew Ross Sorkin.

Has the recession changed the face of the legal profession? Yes, though we will only start to see the actual effects over the next 12-18 months when there will be a number of law firm insolvencies and more M&A activity, particularly among mid-sized firms. A number of smaller practices have already struggled with personal indemnity renewals and a number also struggled to pay their partner tax bills at the end of January this year.

To what extent do you think the legal profession needs to change over the next 20 years? A massive change is required. The Legal Services Act will be a catalyst for such change. The shape of the legal market in even five years will look very different to today. Tesco law will change the face of high street firms and we will see the use of private equity for larger firms with distinct offerings.

What's the most memorable deal you've ever worked on and why? Acting for Hill Dickinson on the Halliwells administration – I have never come across so many lawyers on one transaction and it was fascinating to see the different approaches taken by the various firms involved.

What most annoys you about the banking profession? Most of my clients are banks, so I'm not going to criticise the banking profession, even though pretty much everybody else is at the moment!

What is the daftest piece of corporate jargon you have heard (and did you smirk)? When the lawyer on the other side asked whether the proposed pre-pack administration should in fact be a post-pack administration – and yes, I did smirk.

What's your favourite fictional representation of a lawyer and why? All of the lawyers on This Life.

To what extent do you agree with the following statement "Ally McBeal was a crime against a) the legal profession, b) television, c) the public"? I definitely agree with all of the above, though my wife would have a different view.

What's your motto? Always look after your teeth, which was the only piece of advice my grandad ever gave to me.

Who has been the biggest influence on your career? My bank manager.

What's your favourite cheese? Brie de Meaux or Vacherin.

Visit Legal Week's Dealmaker archive to read more profiles.