Jeremy Moore, the managing partner at Carter Moore, a Manchester firm, acted for Barry George, who was acquitted of the murder of Jill Dando, the BBC presenter, at a retrial, after having served eight years in prison.

What were the main challenges in this case?

At the time I began representing Barry George he had been convicted by a jury and been unsuccessful in the appeal courts. It was therefore a case of starting from scratch to collate potential grounds of appeal and fresh evidence to present to the Criminal Cases Review Commission that had not been presented to the courts previously, to secure a successful appeal and then succeed at the retrial.

What was your worst day as a lawyer?

On my first day as a trainee solicitor I was presented with a dozen box-loads of papers on a case and asked to draft a list of documents. I immediately thought: “What have I done?” It was close to being the shortest legal career on record.

What was your most memorable experience as a lawyer?

Waiting for and hearing the verdict on this case. I almost missed it as we had been told there would be no verdict that day and I was about to step into a taxi to Euston to head back to Manchester when I received the message to go back to court.

Who has been the most influential person in your life and why?

My children, Chloe and Solomon, who constantly bring me right back down to earth with a bang. They remind me that there is more to life than the stresses and strains of the office and are far more interested in playing with me on the Wii than hearing about my boring job.

Why did you become a lawyer?

I did a business studies degree. That gave me a good grounding in many areas including law, which I found the most interesting of all.

What would your advice be to anyone wanting a career in law?

Given the vast number of places at law schools now compared with the number of training contracts available, I’d advise people to think twice before entering the profession and if they do, to think about gaining some experience before the Legal Practice Course that would enable them to stand out from other candidates.

Where do you see yourself in ten years?

Given the cutbacks in funding for defence work it is difficult to envisage a long-term future in criminal legal aid work; it is hard to envisage criminal legal aid being available in the same form ten years from now. We are repositioning our firm to engage ourselves more in advising companies on regulatory law and other pseudocriminal areas, although I’d hope to still be able to take on some cases where there has been a real miscarriage of justice.

l_tsang@hotmail.com

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