LAWYER IN THE NEWS

Who?: Ugo Palazzo, 44-year-old head of the serious and complex casework division of four-partner McCormacks, which has four offices in London and Essex.

Why is he in the news? Represented Quinten Hann, the top Australian snooker player, who was last week cleared of rape.

He was accused of raping a South African student after she came back to his flat, having spent the evening drinking champagne with him and his friends.

Following a nine-month ordeal and nine-day trial, he was unanimously acquitted, with the judge Timothy Pontius unusually stating that he agreed with the verdict.

Background: Graduated in economics from City University in 1978, followed by the CPE in 1983 and Law Society finals in 1984 at Bristol Polytechnic (now University of the West of England).

He qualified with an east London criminal firm in 1987, having completed an MA in classical civilisation at Birkbeck College in 1986.

He joined McCormacks as a partner in 1989.

Route to the case: Duty solicitor.

Thoughts on the case: 'It should never have come to trial.

As it was, the prosecution provided the defence with its best witnesses.

It's also reopened the debate on the anonymity of rape suspects, a debate which has now been taken over by the politicians.

I personally think that the question of anonymity should be left in the judge's discretion - for example, if a high-profile person is charged with rape and the judge can immediately see that the evidence is extremely flimsy, he should impose an anonymity order.'

Dealing with the media: 'The experience was like being chased by a herd of elephants, and I discovered that it was always necessary to

identify the media agenda before making any comment.

Most contacts were faithful to the content of my press briefing and proved trustworthy.

However, despite this, I learnt that coming out with unguarded statements can be very dangerous.'

Victoria MacCallum