Dropping my first junior’s sandwich. I picked it up, put it back in the bag and gave it to him – then hid in the corner.
Name:
Wayne King
Title: Senior criminal clerk
Firm: 7 Bedford Row
Lives: Essex
Work history
1986-87: Junior clerk, 4 King’s Bench Walk
1987-95: Clerk, 2 Crown Office Row (Now 7 Bedford Row)
1995-2000: Criminal clerk, 9 Bedford Row (Now 7 Bedford Row)
2000-present: Senior criminal clerk, 7 Bedford Row
What was your first-ever job?
Landscape gardener.
What was your worst experience as a trainee?
Dropping my first junior’s sandwich. I picked it up, put it back in the bag and gave it to him – then hid in the corner.
Where’s the best place to go if you want to find out what’s really going on in the office?
The clerks’ room.
What time do you usually leave the office?
7pm.
What do you do at weekends?
Coach local children on how to play football and spend time with my wife and children.
What’s your favourite restaurant?
Frenchy’s – a little beach bar on the Gulf Coast.
If you weren’t a lawyer what would you have been?
A landscape gardener.
Who’s your hero and why?
Grandad – he’s just a great man.
What’s the best thing about your job?
The clerks I work with and the people I meet.
What’s the toughest thing about your job?
Dealing with clients who just do not understand the way the legal system works.
What’s your biggest work career mistake and what did you learn from it?
Apart from the sandwich incident, I missed a big case in the list – I learnt always to triple check lists.
What car do you drive?
I don’t drive.
What book are you currently reading?
Peter Kay’s autobiography The Sound of Laughter.
What’s on your iPod at the moment?
Feeder and Disco Classics.
What’s your favourite children’s book?
The Famous Five series.
What’s the most exciting deal/case you’ve worked on and why?
A big Hong Kong case. Chambers had set me a task to see if we could move into the market and after some hard work and a little help, I managed to land a biggy.
If you were stranded on a desert island, what two luxury items would you take?
A PSP and an electricity generator.
What’s the worst conference location you’ve attended and why?
Sleaford in Lincolnshire. If you’ve been there you will know why.
What’s the longest you’ve worked without sleep?
48 hours.
If a movie was being made about your life, which actor would play you and why?
Tom Hanks. Everyone tells me I look like him so I might as well have him play me.
Who would you least like to be stuck in a lift with and why?
Any Chelsea player – I hate them all.
