LAWYER OF THE MONTH JULY 2006

Our Lawyer of the Month is Chris Boothman. Chris was born in December 1955 in North London. He read Business Law at Moorgate School of Business Studies (now known as CityUniversity). After graduating in 1979, he stayed on at Moorgate School of Business Studies to do his Solicitor’s Finals whilst working part-time as a Youth & Hostel Worker and a martial arts teacher.

 Chris did his Articles at 3 related firms. In the first year he was at Gordon James & Morton, then in Carey Street, Central London. This was followed by six months at Geoffrey Gordon in Lavender Hill, South West London and the final six months of his Articles was with Gordon, Walton and Doctors in Walworth Road, SouthLondon.

 After Chris’ admission as a solicitor in 1982, he spent a year at Gordon, James & Morton in Carey Street doing mostly criminal defence work, Employment law and general High Street Legal Aid work. In 1983 he joined the London Borough of Camden’s Police Committee Support Unit as a Research Officer as he “really didn’t fancy the prospect of continuing to spend every morning representing suspects in the Magistrates Court and every afternoon visiting people in prison”. His job in Camden was to report on policing issues like prostitution in Kings Cross, give policy advice to members, and produce guidance on policing issues for communities. At this time he was working along side Steve Bassam, who went on to become Lord and a junior Minister in the current government.

In 1985 Chris joined the Greater London Council (GLC) as a legal officer together with Gerry Danby who is now Director of Legal Services for Bradford Council. They replaced the legal team comprising of Courtenay Griffiths QC and Louise Christian who left to return to private practice. He worked with Paul Boateng within the Police Committee Support Unit producing information and advice relating to the campaign for greater police accountability and an elected police authority for London until 1986 when the GLC was abolished by the Margaret Thatcher Government. By the time Chris left the GLC, he had become the Deputy Head of the Police Support Unit. He then joined the London Strategic Policy Unit (known as the “GLC in exile”) as a legal adviser advising on local government/public law before going to the London Borough of Hackney as a Senior Assistant Solicitor responsible for advice on local government powers and funding as well as Housing and Employment litigation.Chris was the Principal Legal Officer responsible for Administrative Law and Special Projects when he left the post in 1991.

 Chris then joined the Commission for Racial Equality as their Legal Director where he remained for ten years during its very successful period under the chairmanship of Herman now Lord Ousley. During his time at the CRE, as well as being involved in many ground breaking discrimination cases and investigations CRE, he played a crucial background role during the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry. Most of the significant recommendations adopted in the McPherson report were initiated by the CRE legal team and went on to become enshrined in the Race Relations Act 2000. Chris also worked with Keith Vaz (the former MP) on the Race Relations Remedies Act which removed the cap on compensation claims in race discrimination cases

 In January 2002 against the background of two serious misconduct cases (Dame Shirley Porter and a group of Doncaster councilors), a new statutory body known as the Standards Board of England was set up to promote ethical behaviour across thousands of public sector authorities and to investigate breaches of its code of conduct. Chris left the CRE and became its first Head of Legal Services. The legal team put together by Chris provides an extensive service to the Board as well as support to Heads of Law in local government. His team advises on allegations, the code of conduct and investigations. Also the vast majority of the 400 plus cases that have gone to hearing have been presented by Chris and his in-house team. While most of the 10,000 elected members are a credit to local government there are a few that continue to commit acts of serious misconduct. Sanctions in misconduct cases range from a reprimand through to suspension or in the most serious cases disqualification from public office for up to 5 years.

His legal team has handled many controversial cases involving powerful and influential politicians including the London Mayor, Ken Livingstone regarding the Mayor’s “Nazi” exchanges with a journalist.

Chris is a former member and Chairman of the Society of Black Lawyers and is a former Council Member of the Law Society. He has also served on the Law Society Criminal law, Training, Standards & Guidance and Equal Opportunities Committees as well as the Local Government Group and the Law Society Council itself.   

Chris has many community and cultural interests. He has been actively involved in Notting Hill Carnival for 35 years attending initially as a member of a South London Sound System, then as catering assistant, then as one of the founding members of Eclipse Steel Orchestra from Tottenham and then as a member of the Burrokeets Costume and Masquerade Band. Chris has also served as the elected representative of the Notting Hill Costume Bands and is a former Director and Company Secretary of London Notting Hill Carnival Ltd. He has been involved in youth work and projects for homeless young people. He is also currently a board member of Pepper Pot, a community organisation for Caribbean elders in Ladbroke Grove, West London that the Queen recently visited as part of her birthday celebrations.

Chris was named by the Lawyer as one of the Hot 100 lawyers shaping the law in 2006.

 Below is our interview with Chris:

BLD: If you were to choose a profession other than law, what would it be and why?

CB:   I am motivated by the feeling that I can make a difference to the society that I live in by highlighting and tackling injustice so I would probably choose to be an investigative TV journalist or presenter – like Ragi Omar or Woodward & Bernstein.

BLD: What was the best career advice you were given?

CB: I never did receive good career advice. One teacher told me not to bother with commercial art (I was best at art & music at school) because it was not possible to make a living out of it and when I suggested training to become a solicitor, he told me not to bother because he had tried the exams and didn’t get through. He said it was better for me to become an Accounts clerk. I decided to become a solicitor anyway!

BLD: What was the best career advice you will give to other lawyers and budding lawyers?

CB: That anything is possible but your potential is more likely to be realised by reflection, planning and hard graft. Get someone to help you to analyse your strengths and use that information to plan where you want to be in 5 years and work backwards to know where you need to be now to get there.

BLD: The person you most admire (dead or alive)?CB: For me it’s more about qualities than individuals. What I admire are people who are unique, fearless, stand for something, hardworking with a love for life and people. My mum is one because she brought up all six of us, effectively on her own as my dad went to work in America during most of my childhood. I also admire people who made it from my local community Iike Maxi Priest. People who taught me like John Perry QC. People who I worked alongside in the past like Valerie Amos, Barbara Roche, Courtenay Griffiths and especially Thelma Stober, the Head of Legal at the London Development Agency who has recently returned to work after being seriously injured in 7/7. People I have worked to like Paul Boateng and Herman Ouseley. In sports it’s Muhammad Ali and the Trinidad and Tobago goalkeeper in the 2006 world cup, Shaka Hislop and Nelson Mandela stands in a class of his own.

BLD: Tell us your professional high point(s). 

CB: As the Chair of the Society of Black Lawyers, hosting a reception for the first African/Caribbean and Asian QC’s (John Roberts and Sibghat Kadri) in the 1980s and being part of the teams that won the case for a stronger Race Relations Act and a Police Authority for London.

BLD: What was your worst case/worst moment as a lawyer?

CB: Pain – Dealing with clients experiencing human suffering like the former Brixton prison officer Claude Johnson who was discriminated against for reporting colleagues who were abusing black prisoners. Seeing ordinary people caught up in ground breaking cases and being more traumatized by the litigation than by the original acts of discrimination. It is tragic to witness strong and vibrant people ground down by institutional racism and the stress of a long running case.

BLD: What was the most famous/interesting case(s) you have handled to date?

CB: Many interesting cases – Apart from the Stephen Lawrence case, the case of R v Caldwell that I worked on as a trainee. Caldwell was sacked and subsequently got drunk and sought to burn down his former employer’s hotel in which a number of people were sleeping.  The question was could a charge of arson with intent to endanger life be sustained. The question was whether his reckless actions were sufficient to establish the relevant intent. The case went to the House of Lords and remains one of the leading cases on intent.  Another fascinating case I was involved in was that of Marcus Sergeant who fired blanks at the Queen at the trooping of the colours in 1981. He was charged and convicted under the Treason Felony Act 1874 and subsequently sentenced to 5 years imprisonment. This Act is still in force.

BLD: What are you most passionate/happiest about?

CB: Any experience that is uplifting and dream catching – culture, art, music and carnival. I am a carnival fanatic.

BLD: What are your dislikes?

CB:  Control freaks and people, who are narrow thinking, narrow minded, negative and pessimistic, people who worry all the time and can’t see beyond the challenge that is immediately in front of them.

BLD: Any professional regrets?

CB: Not really but I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I had persisted in my search for a training contract with an entertainment law firm. I had originally planned to become an entertainment lawyer. However after a few hundred applications, I was only able to get two offers and ended up taking the one that seemed most interesting at the time.

BLD: If you could rule the world for a day what would you change/do?

CB: I would introduce into the curriculum of every school compulsory components on 1. The power of positive thinking, 2 a traditional (value based) martial art, 3 successful parenting through teamwork. Also mentoring programmes to enable young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to meet positive role models from their own communities.

BLD: Do tell us about your family. 

CB: My parents were born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and they are both alive and kicking. In fact my mother still puts on a costume and goes to Trinidad Carnival every year. Back in Trinidad the Boothman family is noted for music and art. I have been married nearly 20 years and I have children who have far more potential than me.