Lives:
Sheffield
Education:
I went to a rural comprehensive school in Herefordshire (it was assumed we’d end up working in agriculture so we had lessons in how to identify different breeds of sheep, cattle, pigs etc!) followed by a scholarship to a cathedral school for 6th form. I read English at New College, Oxford and then did my CPE and LPC at the College of Law in Chester.
Work History:
I trained at Mills & Reeve and stayed with them for the first few years after qualification before moving to Wake Smith in 2005.
What was your first job?
I worked as a GP’s receptionist for a year which was great training for being a lawyer as it exposed me to dealing with the vagaries of the general public for the first time.
What did you think you would be when you grew up?
Either a violinist or a barrister.
Where is the best place to go for office gossip?
The ladies’ loos.
What is the best thing about your job?
I deal with wills and probate so I often meet clients at a particularly difficult time in their lives. It’s a privilege to be invited into people’s lives and I’m always interested to hear my clients’ life stories – many people have fascinating tales to tell.
What is the worst thing about your job?
Apart from the usual things (the overflowing email inbox, being left on hold for half an hour by the tax office, the traffic on Tenter Street), I would say one of the hardest things about my particular role as a probate lawyer is when clients I have got to know well over the years become seriously ill or die.
What and where is your favourite restaurant?
The Nare Hotel in Veryan, Cornwall. The hotel is on a clifftop overlooking the sea and the food and service are out of this world. I have family who live nearby, so I normally manage to have Sunday lunch there at least once a year.
What book are you reading?
This is a bit embarrassing for an English graduate, but I’m re-reading Jilly Cooper’s “Riders” at the moment, in readiness for the latest book in the series being published. Actually, I think sneering at Jilly Cooper is misplaced - she’s a very witty writer who does social comedy extremely well. Her descriptions of the English countryside and rural life are also second to none.
If you were stranded on a desert island, which two luxury items would you take?
An endless supply of Hotel Chocolat rum truffles and Taittinger champagne.
If a film was being made of your life, who would you want to play you and why?
Nigella Lawson (see below).
Who would you least like to be stuck in a lift with?
Craig Raine, who taught me in my first term at Oxford. I still have nightmares about being grilled by him about obscure Victorian poets.
Which 3 celebrities would you invite to your perfect dinner party (alive or dead)?
Kenneth Branagh, Charlotte Brontë and David Bowie. Charlotte Brontë was famously awkward at dinner parties, but I’d like to think that Ken and Dave would put her at her ease.
What do you enjoy in your spare time?
I sing in an excellent chamber choir called Viva Voce and occasionally blow the cobwebs off my violin as well. I also enjoy cooking and some friends have been kind enough to call me “Sheffield’s answer to Nigella Lawson”.
Who is your hero and why?
There are lots of people I admire, so it’s difficult to narrow it down to just one. I have great admiration for Jeannette Winterson though – she is always engaging when interviewed and seems to be such a positive person. Her books “Oranges are Not the Only Fruit” and “Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?” chronicle her appalling childhood at the hands of her adoptive mother and her (ultimately successful) struggle to escape the limitations of her upbringing.
