Lawyer in the news

Who: Judith Gledhill, 38-year-old partner in the Leeds office of top trade union firm Thompsons.

Why is she in the news? Acted for Phil Danielson, the teacher who was held hostage for 44 hours by Charles Bronson, one of Britain's most dangerous prisoners, and was last week awarded 65,000 compensation from the Home Office.

Mr Danielson, an education manager for Hull County Council, was lecturing the inmates of Hull prison in 1999 when Bronson - an armed robber who has spent most of his 27 years in prison being held in solitary confinement - burst into the room, overpowered a prison officer, and was filmed by security cameras tying a rope around Mr Danielson's neck and leading him around like a dog while mouthing the words to the Aretha Franklin song 'I Say A Little Prayer'.

Background: Graduated with an LLB from Leeds University, 1981-84, followed by Law Society finals at Chester College of Law in 1985.

After a stint travelling, Ms Gledhill qualified with Thompsons in 1989, where she has remained ever since, being made up to partner in 1994.

Route to the case Through Mr Danielson's union, the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE).Thoughts on the case: 'The incident was unbelievably stressful and traumatic for my client, and when it was over, he had to go to court to give evidence and relieve the whole experience.

Mr Danielson has been unable to return to work full time after the attack, and although his employers have been very supportive, the experience has been so traumatic that he will never return to the same level that he was at before.

From a personal point of view, he just wants to put the whole incident behind him and try and get back to a normal life.

The union is calling for the level of security for civilians inside prisons to be improved so this never happens again - Bronson had a history of violence and had previously kidnapped another prison officer, and yet this incident still happened.' Dealing with the media: 'I've tried to take a back seat, as NATFHE has supported this case from the start, and so has dealt with much of the media attention.'Victoria MacCallum