Meet our Training Principal
Benn Richards, Partner & Training Principal
What was the biggest mistake you made as a trainee? What did you learn from it? Like most people, many but thankfully nothing too significant. Messing up an index map search on a plot of land in central London was a “highlight”. Thankfully an incredibly calm and understanding supervisor meant it was a near-miss rather than a big mess-up. If you could describe your leadership style in three words, what would they be? Well, I would hope people would say approachable, collaborative and supportive. What is your favourite thing to do in your free time? In no particular order: spend time with my family, walk my dogs and ride bikes (road, mountain and zwift). I also enjoy bike-packing but have swapped staying in tents to staying in hotels. Listen and take in as much as you can. Very often we all deal with things we do not know the answer to but we learn how to find out the answer. You are not alone, please seek guidance and assistance from your colleagues – we are a supportive and collaborative firm, so please do ask for help. Given what you know now, what advice would you give to your trainee self?
Where did you train? A small commercial firm in the City in London which was swallowed-up by a National Law firm many years ago.
Do you have a law or a non-law background?
Non-law. I have a BSc in Sociology from the University of Bristol. I did the PGDip and LPC at the College of Law (now the University of Law) in Guildford. What do you like least about the legal profession? As someone who is a litigator, I find overly aggressive styles of litigation unhelpful and (occasionally) unprofessional. We are all just doing a job and a more constructive and collaborative approach makes for a much better case. If you weren’t a lawyer, what would you be? Looking back to my time post-university, probably a role in education or politics. What is your proudest career moment? I have been fortunate to act on some significant cases (from Swissair, to Bernie Madoff and one of the largest ever UK bankruptcies) but obtaining my higher rights of audience (both civil and criminal) in 2005 and using it for the first time was a proud moment. I have my robes in the office in case I every need to dash off to court!
See more about life as a trainee at Michelmores on our website
Graduate Recruitment
10
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online