NLJ PROFILE: Olivier Morel, Cripps

What was your route into the profession?

I enrolled into a law course at the Sorbonne in Paris without knowing a huge deal about where it might lead—honestly, I was initially an ‘uninspired’ student. I gradually acquired a taste for the subject and what really got the juices going was a post-grad course in comparative law, when I discovered common law!  Coming from a civil law background, this was quite a culture shock, but I realised I was at the confluence of two of the world’s most important legal systems: the source of civil law, the Napoleonic Civil Code, is used in one way or another in some 100 countries; and most of the English-speaking world uses common law. In essence, by studying and practising in both systems, you cover most of the world’s major economies. Add to that the fascinating insight into cultural differences through legal systems, and it makes for a never-ending source of wonderment.

What has been your biggest career challenge so far?

Plenty, but in hindsight, it was probably turning up in London on a bright morning in October 1987. I was fresh out of the army (national service as a second lieutenant in the Chasseurs Alpins—French mountain troops), with a law degree from the Sorbonne and my naïve enthusiasm! I was hired after a few weeks and a dozen interviews. The fact that I’m still practising here over 30 years later is testament to this country’s openness, and the English profession’s willingness to give a chance to a young and inexperienced French university graduate.

Which person within the legal profession inspires you most?

A number of people, but two come to mind now: Dominic Grieve QC, for his incredible eloquence in French—I have witnessed in fascination as Dominic explained complex legal concepts to a senior member of the French cabinet, and made it sound all so simple; Robert Badinter, Avocat à la Cour, Minister of Justice & Keeper of the Seals who oversaw the abolition of the death penalty in France in 1981. His speech in the French Parliament remains a great moment when a lawyer changed history, to a large extent by force of conviction.  

If you weren’t a lawyer, what would you choose as an alternate career?

A historian. I am fascinated by our past and how it shapes who we are, and I strongly believe that: 'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it'.

Who is your favourite fictional lawyer?

Any underdog John Grisham attorney—something attractive about the ‘against-the-odds’ triumph of David v Goliath

What change would you make to the profession?

We should be less apologetic about our profession. History is littered with lawyers who have shaped and changed the course of history—Cicero; Thomas Cromwell; Abraham Lincoln; Gandhi; Lee Kuan Yew; Jane Bolin; Nelson Mandela; Barbara Jordan; Simone Veil; etc. Let’s be proud to be lawyers and not forget that the legal ecosystem in the UK is a £30bn+ industry that runs a trade surplus.

How do you relax?

Reading (history; geopolitics; French bandes dessinées); gardening (or rather thrashing about in the garden…); films (David Lean, Stanley Kubrick, François Truffaut); music (19th & 20th century Russian composers; Red Army Choir; Beethoven; 20th century French-language singers—Jacques Brel, Edith Piaf).