What was your route into the profession?
I am a thoroughly “accidental lawyer”! Having read Modern History at St Peter’s College Oxford, I had intended to stay on as a postgraduate. However, my then girlfriend decided that we had different directions to go in so remaining in Oxford somewhat lost its allure! With no idea of what else to do, as a number of friends were opting for the College of Law at Guildford to do the conversion and LPC, I thought why ever not! Similarly, I became an “accidental reinsurance lawyer” purely by the fact that I trained at RPC, where (re)insurance was a major focus.
What has been your biggest career challenge so far?
Putting aside the current pandemic, which has been a challenge for most in the profession, I think it was being made a partner at RPC at only six years PQE – moving from being on top all the detail myself to then having others (some of whom were more senior in terms of PQE) report into me took a while to transition. It is fair to say that since then most firms are now much better at preparing for partnership to avoid the associate one day, partner the next day shock, and the dreaded “new partner syndrome,” of which I of course suffered until it was gently pointed out to me.
Which person within the legal profession inspires you most?
That is a difficult question! I think the person that did inspire me most was my first supervising partner at RPC, Paul Nicholas. The consummate gentleman and fabulous lawyer, he taught me that to succeed for your clients it is more effective to always remain polite, measured and professional when dealing with your opponents – this was in the bad old days of the 4.30 Friday afternoon fax arriving! Equally importantly, he demonstrated the importance, particularly in the (re)insurance marketplace, of nurturing relationships with clients, many of whom have become firm and valued friends since the early days of my career.
If you weren’t a lawyer, what would you choose as an alternate career?
I suspect that it would have involved staying in academia, in either early medieval history or Victorian political history (rather different areas of interest!).
Who is your favourite fictional lawyer?
Without a doubt, it has to the curmudgeonly bastion of the Old Bailey – Horace Rumpole with his “golden thread”!
What change would you make to the profession?
I think the profession could go a lot further when it comes to inclusivity – as a North Eastern comprehensive boy it would never have occurred to me that “someone like me” would ever consider a career in what appeared to be a remote and privileged profession. Whilst the profession has certainly come on a long way, with many genuine commitments to Diversity & Inclusion, a lot more work is needed, in my view, to make it a more approachable and achievable choice for a broader range of backgrounds.
How do you relax?
Apart from a beer with my weekend papers at my local village pub, having been introduced by my daughters to Spotify I am enjoying broadening my musical interests beyond my CD collection! Having previously enjoyed off-shore yacht racing, getting back into sailing now I don’t have family commitments is firmly on the agenda, providing that my much older knees can cope!
Gavin Coull is a Partner at Birketts and President of London FOIL, the London arm of the Forum of Insurance Lawyers.
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