Although surfing and solicitors may not seem to have much in common there are some in the profession who could not live without it, writes Andrew Cox


Summer. The very word conjures up images of warm, lazy days by the seaside (although maybe not this year), relaxation and, for some, the fine art of surfing. At first glance, surfing and lawyers have as much in common as a ‘Blue Peter’ phone-in competition and a fair-play award. Carve a bottom turn on the surface, however, and a different truth is revealed. Lawyers do surf. Indeed, some of them are likely to be in the ‘lineup’ even as you read this.



Media lawyer Alex Wade is probably the most high-profile UK surfing solicitor, thanks to his blog on all matters surfing for The Times (www.timesonline.co.uk/surfnation). In fact, if it had not been for surfing, it is unlikely he would have made it through the old Common Professional Examination and Law Society finals at Leicester Polytechnic nearly 20 years ago. ‘If I hadn’t been able to make occasional weekend trips to Cornwall, I don’t know if I would have lasted the distance,’ Mr Wade confesses. ‘There was so much to learn and cram in. Sometimes I just needed to take time out and surfing has always been my escape.’



In those days, surfing was still very much a minority sport and the fashion industry was only just beginning to wake up to the idea that it could sell the lifestyle to the masses. Nowadays, it is a global industry turning over an estimated £200 million annually in the UK alone, with leading companies such as Rip Curl, Quiksilver and Billabong, all established household names.



The hard sell inspired by the marketing men has not, however, met with universal approval. ‘Whether surfing has sold its soul is a fair question,’ Mr Wade says. Indeed, it is one he has explored in detail in his book, Surf Nation, recently published to favourable reviews (see box, right). Not that it is one that he allows to get in the way of his enjoyment of the sport following his family’s recent relocation to west Cornwall. ‘Sennen Cove is just three miles away and I’m lucky enough to pick up the kids from school and go for a wave before returning home. The only difficulty now is that they’re getting better than me,’ he jokes.



If this sounds like a quality of life that is only possible in dreams, it may come as a surprise to learn that Mr Wade is not alone. Stephen Branfield is a partner in the commercial property department of Hancock Caffin, based in Truro, Cornwall. ‘I live near the north coast and it is a ten-minute walk to my nearest beach,’ he says. ‘When I worked full-time, I was limited to evening surfs, if there was still light, and weekends. Since going part-time – I now work three days a week – I have a much greater degree of flexibility. The work/life balance suits me far better.’



Indeed, another tome shortly to hit the shelves makes an even stronger case for surfing (among other pursuits). Why Lawyers Should Surf, a self-help book by personal injury barrister Tim Kevan and psychiatrist Dr Michelle Tempest was motivated by several studies which said that lawyers suffer from an above-average rate of low mood. One US study in the 1990s found that lawyers were nearly four times above the average rate of depression.



Talk to any lawyer who surfs and it will not be long before the quality-of-life issue raises its head. Of course, other ‘outside interests’ also conflict with the demands of legal (or other) careers, but surfing – with its associated images of freedom and lack of personal responsibilities – serves to throw into the sharpest of contrasts the stereotypical perception of the law as all relentless pressure and dour grind.



And it is not just the solicitors’ branch of the legal profession which faces this daily dilemma; the brethren at the bar are similarly challenged. It is a little-known fact that top London media law set 5 Raymond Buildings is home to two secret surfers, Mark Warby QC and junior Jacob Dean.



‘I grew up in the Bristol area but every summer the family spent six weeks at Crackington Haven in north Cornwall, which is where I learned to surf,’ Mr Warby says. ‘I still try to get in when I can, but the reality is that it is not as often as I would like.’ Asked to identify any parallels between surfing and the law, Mr Warby is unequivocal: there is none. And that is the point. ‘I don’t see any similarities at all but that is the great virtue of it. Surfing is so totally different [to work as a barrister] that it takes you completely out of your mind-set.’



Mr Dean agrees: ‘Surfing requires complete concentration and, as a result, it is a great stress-buster. I love simply floating in the sea, waiting for waves that have travelled thousands of miles just to reach you.’



The two share more than the occasional surf trip. ‘Mark led me recently in a big tribunal hearing,’ Mr Dean says. ‘At the end he gave me my red bag [a traditional present of thanks and advancement] for my wig and gown. Needless to say, it was only days later the decision was announced that wigs were going to be scrapped. I’m thinking of putting in a waterproof lining and using it to carry my wettie [wetsuit].’



The quandary of reconciling the discipline and rigour required for the law with the joie de vivre that surfing has at its soul has met with a variety of different responses from those afflicted in different jurisdictions around the world. In the US, there is an Association of Surfing Lawyers which ‘aims to foster goodwill, balance, camaraderie and networking among surfing lawyers’. The association, which has 200 members, has a website (www.surfinglawyers.com) and holds itself out as ‘a non-profit organisation of attorneys who promote and preserve the lifestyle, causes and concerns of surfers around the world’.



There is, unsurprisingly, a similar organisation in Australia. This has also been home to a forum which considered the role (if any) that law should play in regulating surfing, particularly in the case of what has come to be known as ‘surf rage’. Meanwhile, the Australian Lawyers Surfing Association has organised its first continuing professional development conference. For those in doubt of where the priorities will lie, the event is being held at the Blue Point Resort, Uluwatu, in Bali.



Those tempted to run the CPD angle past the managing partner will do well to bear in mind that Ulu’s fabled reef is only reached by transiting a cave between swells. Time the paddle wrong and you will wish you had plumped for the wills and probate update in February at Bognor.



Andrew Cox is a freelance journalist



SURF NATION
by Alex Wade

Simon & Schuster, £12.99



If it is a lightweight tale of beach babes and surf dudes that you are after, then Surf Nation, Alex Wade’s second book, is most definitely not the book for you.



Mr Wade, a media lawyer who previously wrote about white-collar boxing, has travelled from Land’s End to the Orkneys and from Ireland’s west coast to the Channel Islands to seek out the characters that ride and have ridden waves in this country since the sport was first introduced to the UK in the 1960s. What emerges is a stock-take of the sport’s standing. Mr Wade has sufficient integrity not to flinch from showing the reader that not all is well, while never allowing the read to be less than highly enjoyable and informative.



If Bill Bryson had chosen not to hike the Appalachian trail but instead to cover the four corners of this country armed with a thick wetsuit and a sense of humour, this is the book that may have resulted. Mr Wade substitutes the American’s laconic wit with literary narrative, but both men research their subjects meticulously and each has a sharp eye for insight into human nature. improvement



Surf Nation has a melancholic air. Surfing appears to have lost some of its innocence as it has come of age. It is no longer blessed with the carefree ways of youth – the sport now has a mortgage to pay, two kids to raise and a dog that needs walking.



In truth, all that Mr Wade has done is puncture the image created by the marketing men. UK surfing is not done in board shorts – it never has been. Days of pristine, double overhead perfection are few and far between. But that is the point: the UK does have such days – the devoted just have to be patient.



A duality emerges as the book progresses. If you buy into or are seduced by the dream pedalled by the advertisers of Logo Beach, your experience is likely to be one of disappointment and disenchantment. By contrast, if you are willing to stay true through the flat spells, to remain faithful when the cold and the wind test doubting spirits, ultimately, the rewards will be there. As the book concludes, surfing in the UK can provide ‘a taste of heaven’.



Andrew Cox