Plymouth solicitor Charles Patterson (see picture, far left) has experience of both sides of shipping law, both as an associate at shipping specialist Davies Johnson & Co, and also as a pirate. The 36-year-old salt responded to our call for lawyers with screen-legend stories to tell with some stirring tales of his days before the mast as a sailor in square riggers, which appear regularly in films, such as the Earl of Pembroke.

Patterson’s career includes roles in Cutthroat Island (see picture again), Amy Foster and a TV adaptation of Moll Flanders. ‘I’ve also re-enacted the Battle of Ilfracombe,’ he says proudly. Even when the ships are real, some on-screen drama requires a little help from special effects. ‘We created a storm in Charles­town Harbour in Cornwall by rigging up the Earl of Pembroke to a crane which rocked it back and forth while a chute sent a periodic deluge of water over the decks.’

Charles has also appeared in advertisements: ‘One as a sailor hanging out washing with a rolled cigarette hanging out of my mouth,’ he says.

Nowadays the old sea dog keeps his hand in by sailing a 37-foot classic wooden yacht from just outside his office. ‘The general seafaring ethos still comes in useful in my work,’ he insists.