The Lawyer Inquiry: Michael Berrett

Michael Berrett is a partner specialising in personal injury work at Newbury practice Charles Lucas & Marshall. Born in London in 1956, he now lives in Wantage, Oxfordshire.



What was your first job?

Choir boy.



What was your first ever salary as a lawyer?

£50 for taking a judgment at Bloomsbury County Court.



What would you have done if you hadn't become a lawyer?

Written novels.



Which law could you live without?

Bolam v Friern Hospital Management Committee.



What was your most embarrassing professional moment?

Being thrown out of court by an elderly Crown Court judge in Durham for not knowing the maximum sentence he could impose in a criminal matter I was prosecuting.



What car do you drive?

Renault Savannah Estate.



Which famous person would you like to go out with?

Emma Thompson.



Where would you go to eat?

A restaurant in a small town in Provence.



What's the best thing on TV?

ER.



Which movie do you wish you'd appeared in?

Easy Rider.



What's your most often-worn piece of clothing?

Red braces.



What book(s) are you reading at the moment?

Noel Coward's biography; Possession by As Byatt.



What is your all-time favourite record?

The Best 60s Album Ever.



What piece of advice would you give to anyone entering the profession now?

Only consider becoming a PI lawyer.



What do you like about yourself?

Waking up without a hangover.



What do you hate about yourself?

Being to nice to the trainees.



Where would you most like to be right now?

Riding a British motorcycle through Tuscany.