The award-winning president of ACAL on challenges & change
Peter Garsden is the senior partner at QualitySolicitors Abney Garsden. He is head of the child abuse department, which he set up in 1994. In 1997 Peter helped to set up ACAL (Association of Child Abuse Lawyers), a claimant based organisation of compensation abuse lawyers dedicated to raising the standards of advice through training and support, of which he is now president.
He was awarded Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year at the Manchester Legal Awards in March 2013 and recently featured in the Greater Manchester 250 most influential people list. The firm has also won several other awards such as Personal Injury Team of the Year, and Small Firm of the Year on two occasions.
What was your route into the profession?
I grew up the son of a retailer father who used to come home complaining that the public were always right, and that he had to agree with them even though he didn’t want to, so I decided that I wanted a career where I was in a position to give advice to the public and be appreciated for an opinion which might help them change their lives. How naïve a teenager I was! I was either going to be a lawyer or a teacher. I think I chose law because, like my mother, I have always had a very strong sense of justice, and like to fight battles for the underdog in the style of David and Goliath. That is exactly what I have ended up doing.
What has been your biggest career challenge so far?
Being cross-examined by a sitting of the Home Affairs Select Committee into alleged false allegations in child abuse cases for two and a half hours in 2002. I thought my professional opinion would be sought on ways to improve the law. Rather, the committee was more interested in attempting to impugn my credibility in a wholly unexpected way. It reminded me of the Court of Star Chamber.
Which person within the legal profession inspires you most?
Lord Denning. His judgments were clear sensible, and a delight to read as a student of Law. He was radical and not afraid of speaking his mind. I always remember him being interviewed after a very high profile case where the defendant had been found not guilty. He remarked that the defendant had been found not guilty, which was very different to being found innocent, which is a legal impossibility even though that is how the media often report it.
If you weren’t a lawyer, what would you choose as an alternate career?
A TV presenter working for Panorama or some other serious investigative documentary maker, or an investigative journalist working for The Guardian/The Independent.
Who is your favorite fictional lawyer?
I know it is a cliché but it has to be Rumpole. What a different world he lives in to the poor starved underpaid criminal bar of today beset by cuts and fights with the unfeeling Ministry of Justice.
What change would you make to the profession?
I would turn the clock back the way it used to be before the profession was ruined by successive governments over recent years. At one time we had a legal aid system which was the envy of the world, rather than hearing complaints that we spend more on legal aid than any other country in the world, so it has to be slashed and burned at the altar of austerity cuts. It is meant to be one of the three pillars of the Bevan welfare state, whereas in comparison to education and health it is now the size of a toothpick about to snap.
I would revert to the day of fixed fee conveyancing or better still a system of charging based on a % of the value of a house which is the way it is in many other countries.
We would then revert to a system which is similar to the way GP’s are—members of a profession whose role it is to serve the welfare of the community. The days of the High Street practitioner, I have seen disappear since I qualified 33 years ago. Society is much the poorer for it.
How do you relax?
I like to do the many jobs that are necessary around our farm. I also enjoy musical theatre, amateur dramatics, skiing (both water and snow), and flying my radio control model gliders in the hills around Leek. It is not relaxation but my wife and I are also foster parents.
