LAWYER IN THE NEWS

Who? Robin Cooper, 53-year-old senior partner and head of litigation at five-partner London firm Brown Cooper.Why is he in the news? Represented the ProLife Alliance in its successful application for judicial review against the Department of Health over cloning.

Ever since 1997, when Dolly the Sheep was created by the technique of cell nuclear replacement, the government has argued that the cloning of humans was governed by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990.

Last week's decision confirmed it is not.

Science has moved on since the Act was passed, and as things stand, the government has no power to regulate, let alone prevent, cloning whether for research or reproductive purposes.

The Department of Health has been granted leave to appeal, but, meanwhile, new legislation is to be rushed through Parliament to plug the loophole.Background: After training at media firm Joynson-Hicks, now part of City firm Taylor Joynson Garrett, qualifying in 1972, he took time out to work in publishing in Toronto.

Returning to London, he worked at now-defunct Herbert Oppenheimers before joining the new firm of Brown Cooper in 1983 to develop the litigation side of the practice.

Last year he acted for the ProLife Alliance when it intervened in the conjoined twins case, which involved making submissions to the Court of Appeal on the effect of the Human Rights Act.Route to the case: 'The client was referred from Liberty via a professional colleague some years ago and the relationship has grown from there.'Thoughts on the case: 'It is a great feature of the English legal system that a small organisation - in this case a political party without any seats in Parliament - can take on the government and win on the merits.

I wonder if we sometimes take this for granted.

Although the government has claimed for a long time that the existing law does ban reproductive cloning, it has nevertheless stated its intention to bring forward primary legislation to put the matter beyond doubt.

As these proceedings have been going on for more than a year, the surprising thing is that it hasn't acted before now.'Dealing with media: 'There has been a lot of interest in this decision and the press has been quick to latch on to the serious implications for the government.

There is much concern in this country and abroad about cloning, which should return to the top of the domestic agenda and be thoroughly debated in Parliament.'Neil Rose