NLJ PROFILE: Timothy Collingwood, Serle Court

What was your route into the profession?

I was lucky enough to have a fairly varied introduction to legal practice. After a law degree I worked in a relatively small solicitors’ firm for a year. That was followed by a one-year postgraduate law degree. I taught a couple of subjects at King’s College, London while attending Bar School before starting pupillage at Serle Court (or Thirteen Old Square as it then was). Just before the end of my pupillage I went to the Cayman Islands to work for five months or so as an attorney-at–law at Quin & Hampson (now Mourant). I then returned to England to start practice here.

What has been your biggest career challenge so far?

The Bar can be challenging in many ways. I think that the toughest thing that I have had to do is go into court to continue my cross-examination during a trial when I had been informed moments earlier that my pregnant wife was being rushed to hospital with (at that point) unidentified complications. Ultimately my daughter arrived safely four weeks later, having started to arrive for the second time during a dinner arranged for the legal team to celebrate the end of the trial.

Which person within the legal profession inspires you most?

Victor Joffe QC, one of my pupil supervisors, has been a significant influence on me over the course of my practice. He taught me everything there is to know about company law and trusts litigation. Most of all, he taught me that I could be a commercial-chancery barrister and still be me.

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

In my youth I always wanted to be a marine biologist. Unfortunately, biology was not for me, but a love of the sea never leaves you.

Who is your favourite fictional lawyer?

There are two: Michael Kuzak (LA Law), who I admired for his courtroom performance and his unconventional tactics in life and work (which included donning a gorilla suit for one episode); and Matt Murdock (the Marvel Universe), who brings a whole new meaning to an active life outside professional practice.

What change would you make to the profession?

 I would widen the application of trials operated on four court days per week.

How do you relax?

Watching any of my three children playing sport. When I get the chance to be active myself: surfing, kayaking and canoeing (depending on the water).

Timothy Collingwood, a barrister at Serle Court, is one of the authors of Minority Shareholders: Law, Practice and Procedure, Oxford University Press. The Sixth Edition is due to be published in the coming weeks, and is available for pre-order here.