Ben Rose, a founding partner at Hickman & Rose, acted for Andrew Adams whose conviction for murder was quashed by the Court of Appeal. He was freed on his second appeal and after serving more than 14 years in jail for the murder of Jack Royal in 1990. The new grounds included an allegation that his original trial lawyers had failed properly to prepare the case.

What were main challenges in this case and the possible implications? Working on this case was like doing a 50,000-piece jigsaw (being about the number of documents to examine), except that we did not have all the bits; many were incomplete, some were from different puzzles or incomprehensible and we had no picture on the lid to look at. To compound matters, all the original defence papers were missing and several of the trial lawyers dead.

Defending many serious and complex fraud cases over the years provided me with an excellent training, though the stakes, the rest of my client’s life, in this case could not have been higher.

What was your worst day as a lawyer? A few months after becoming a lawyer, I represented a large number of prominent political defendants before a court packed with police, press and very eminent counsel (whom I had instructed). I was first on. My hands were shaking so much when I stood up to address the court that I hid my left hand in my pocket. As I started to speak the magistrate said, sotto voce: “Mr Rose, take your hand out of your pocket when speaking to me.” I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me whole.

What was your most memorable experience as a lawyer? After six years’ painstaking work, walking out of the Court of Appeal with Andrew Adams at my side on January 12.

Who has been the most influential person in your life and why? My martial arts instructor for 15 years, for teaching me the art of combat, holding my nerve, and that winning is built on preparation.

Why did you become a lawyer? To make a difference in the world: every so often cases such as Andrew’s remind me of this.

What would your advice be to anyone wanting a career in law? The real split in the profession is not between solicitors and counsel but between publicly funded and private work. Before choosing to undertake the former, be sure you want it. Becoming a lawyer is a long hard slog and while publicly funded work can be incredibly rewarding it is becoming increasingly hard to resist its seemingly inevitable drift to being a conveyor belt processing clients towards summary justice.

Where do you see yourself in ten years? Continuing to represent those charged with serious and complex fraud while at the same time winning more cases like Andrew’s but with more time to devote to my other passions in life: my family, Youth at Risk (a charity I’m involved with) and being in the wilds of nature.

l_tsang@hotmail.com

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