Who? Stephen Gilchrist, 57-year-old partner at London firm Saunders, where he specialises in business crime and related regulatory law.



Why is he in the news? Successfully defended Henry Todd, who - along with two other mountaineers - was facing a private prosecution for the manslaughter of Michael Matthews. Mr Matthews became the youngest Briton to climb Mount Everest in May 1999 but died on the descent.



The prosecution was brought by Mr Matthews' father, businessman David Matthews. The father contended that the gas masks and bottles provided by Mr Todd for the ascent were faulty and contributed to the death of his son.



He further contended that Mr Todd had returned up the mountain to destroy or remove incriminating evidence. He also accused one of the other mountaineers of deserting his son and leaving him to die in a 100mph blizzard.


The case against all the defendants was dismissed by Judge Geoffrey Rivlin QC at Southwark Crown Court last week.


Background: Five-year articles of clerkship, during which he attended the Lancaster Gate arm of the College of Law. After completing his training with criminal practitioner Ian Sheratte (now a judge), he was with London firm Hart Fortgang for 16 years. He started his own firm, Gilchrists, in 1993 before joining Saunders in 1999 and becoming a partner in April 2004.



Route to the case: 'Henry Todd has a colourful history and was an old client of my partner, James Saunders. I was delighted that, when this matter came up, James asked me to deal with it because of my long experience of corporate manslaughter and criminal health and safety cases.'



Thoughts on the case: 'I regard the outcome in this case as not only a solid victory, but also a right and just outcome. Henry was a truly innocent man and was prosecuted by a grieving father seeking to attribute non-existent blame for what was a tragic accident.



'It is just a shame that when I wrote to the Director of Public Prosecutions asking him to review and take over the case, he declined to do so on the grounds that he had concluded that there was an arguable point in relation to my client. As a result, the call on public funds was much greater than it would otherwise have been.'


Dealing with the media: 'I am pretty used to the broadcast and print media and have been involved with them for many years.

'In that time, I have learnt a number of lessons (largely at my expense) including to try and keep control of any interview; specify what is to be on the record and off the record; make sure you know what you want to say before any interview and try to get your point across; and don't waffle.'



Jonathan Rayner