What was your route into the profession?
I decided school was not for me; I was bored, and was often asked to leave the classroom due to my behaviour. After school, I established a lawn mowing business aged 14, employed other kids from school and built up a large list of customers. At 15, I managed to get a council contract to mow the grass verges where I lived; I also had contracts with mobile home parks and was enjoying life.
My father told me I needed to get a proper job, and one day, one of my customers asked me if I wanted to work in the Temple in London. I politely said no as I was not religious, and left it at that. That night I told my father about this strange encounter, and he told me I was a very silly boy—the Temple was where lawyers worked in London, and I needed to go back the next day to ask more about it. He organised an interview at 2 Crown Office Row (2COR), I met Arthur Mildon QC, and the rest is history.
I was offered the role as ‘The Boy’. I hated it. My first pay packet in April 1983 was £35.11; I still have the pay slip. I had to get a bus to the station, a train from Brighton to London, then the tube from Victoria to Temple, do a 10-hour day, and then go back. My train ticket was £27. I kept myself going by lawn mowing at the weekends.
What has been your biggest career challenge so far?
The establishment. Nobody wants you to succeed, nobody gives you encouragement; the establishment, including the Bar Council and the Bar Standards Board, were (40 years ago) totally confused by why someone would want to do things differently. I could not understand why things were done as they were. No computers, no innovation; just tradition.
Which person within the legal profession inspires you most?
Nick Salt, my second senior clerk. (My first senior clerk, Tom Parsliffe, was brilliant and a proper old-school caricature but, while funny and brilliant, was not the future of the profession at that time). Nick was embracing the technology, working to establish systems and process, and I loved it; it made sense. Nick was good for me, encouraging me to be innovative but also firm. I had and still have huge respect for Nick, who shaped my career; I owe him a lot.
If you weren’t a clerk, what would you choose as an alternate career?
I would be mowing lawns, I’m quite sure about that. I just love the business side of things: you do a job well, people come back and you get paid. It’s very simple.
Who is your favourite fictional lawyer?
Billy Lamb from Silk, played brilliantly by Neil Stuke. It is well researched, well written and, apart from a few bits that try and sensationalise things, it’s pretty real when it comes to life in a chambers. I also love North Square.
What change would you make to the profession?
I would change the pupillage rules, but it’s difficult as I do not know what the profession is trying to achieve. It would be easy to create more pupillages, so I ask myself: why has it not been done? I suspect the answer is an unwritten desire to restrict access to the profession, for what could be obvious reasons. There is not enough work for unlimited numbers of barristers; but if we de-restricted access, with proper criteria for entry and correct levels of professionalism, we could open up access to justice, so I don’t really understand the current thinking. It baffles me, and I would love to be part of the solution.
How do you relax?
I have a happy place in France, in the pine forest and by the beach. I have a camper van, internet via Starlink and I can keep in touch, do video calls and chat with clients, but, when it gets to 5pm, I can meet friends and play pétanque.
Stephen Ward, Co-Founder and Commercial Director of The Barrister Group.
