The Lawyer Inquiry: Stephen Charge

Stephen Charge was born in London on 3 January 1962. He is a tax partner at Cameron McKenna.



What was your first job?

I had a Saturday job in a record shop in the mid 1970s. I got the sack for persistently playing 1960s soul music over the loudspeakers when the owner had ordered me to play the new Bay City Rollers album.



What was your first ever salary as a lawyer?

I know it's traditional to say "When I started you had to pay 10 groats a year for articles" but since I defected to the law in the 1980s after a spell in the zany world of chartered accountancy I'm afraid my first salary had lots of noughts in it.



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

Heaven knows. My secretary suggested "concentration camp Kommandant". Anything but a social worker.



Which law could you live without?

The one that allowed Tory MPs to be replaced by Labour ones just because they got more votes.



What was your most embarrassing professional moment?

Compared to the horrors of having to meet my partners after they have read this, anything in the past pales into insignificance.



What car do you drive?

Classified information. Suffice it to say that it is so boring that even Nissan Primera drivers sneer at me.



Which famous person would you like to go out with?

Anyone who would feel obliged to pay the bill.



Where would you go to eat?

Anywhere with a decent wine list.



What's the best thing on TV?

The adverts for Kraft-Matic adjustable beds.



Which movie do you wish you'd appeared in?

I would have liked to have done the shower scene in Psycho with Teresa Gorman and a real knife.



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

Given the rate at which I put on weight, no piece of clothing fits me for very long.



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

What's a book?



What is your all-time favourite record?

Backstabbers by The O'Jays.



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

They don't need advice. For those who are any good, opportunities have never been better.



What do you like about yourself?

My athleticism, commitment to extremely hard work, tact, diplomacy, sex appeal and charm.



What do you hate about yourself?

The fact that I lie a lot.



Where would you most like to be right now?

In bed.