Lawyer in the news

Who? James Brotherton, 36-year-old criminal law partner at five-partner west Sussex firm Wannop & Fox.

Why is he in the news? Represented Harold Brown, the former royal butler whose trial on charges of theft collapsed last week before it had even begun.

The court was told that following the acquittal of former royal butler Paul Burrell five weeks ago on theft charges, the prosecution no longer saw any realistic prospect of success.

The collapse of the case highlighted concerns about the conduct of the police and royal palaces in the 2 million enquiry into the two butlers.

Background: LLB at Bristol University 1984-87, followed by Law Society finals at Guildford College of Law 1988.

He qualified with Portsmouth firm Brutton & Co in 1991, where he remained for three years before moving to Wannop & Fox in 1994.

Route to the case: 'Through a local contact.'

Thoughts on the case: 'It is a shame that the police and Crown Prosecution Service treated the matter like any normal prosecution, as they have publicly stated they did.

It was an investigation involving the alleged theft of items from the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

The investigation required searching questions to be asked of existing members of the royal family at an early stage.

This apparently was never done.'

Dealing with the media: 'I've never experienced media attention on this scale before, and I've been fascinated by the volume and persistence of the press attention.

I tend not to say anything to journalists, except to be polite.

In the back of my client's mind is an awareness of the media backlash experienced by Paul Burrell after his acquittal, which is something that we are concerned about.'

Victoria MacCallum