Who? Maurice Evans, 51, partner at north London firm Wilson Barca.


Why is he in the news? Mr Evans represented 70-year-old squatter Harry Hallowes who has been given the title deeds to a 83ft by 117ft plot of land on Hampstead Heath said to be worth around £2 million.



Mr Hallowes began sleeping rough on Hampstead Heath more than 20 years ago after being evicted from his Highgate council flat in 1985. He is now living in a wooden hut on a plot of land he has occupied for the past 20 years.



Mr Evans and colleagues successfully persuaded the court that Mr Hallowes was entitled to ownership, having occupied the plot for more than the 12 years required under squatter's rights.



Following the court's decision last week that Mr Hallowes had adverse possession of the land, the Land Registry was instructed to amend the register and give him title absolute for the land.



The ruling marked the end of a three-year dispute between Mr Hallowes and the property developer Dwyer which wanted to build on the land. Dwyer declined to comment.



Background: Qualified in 1984 after studying at the College of Law in Chancery Lane, London, he spent his initial years working at Fisher Meredith. Mr Evans has worked at Wilson Barca for 15 years, the last ten of them as a partner.



He has undertaken legal aid work all his professional life and now specialises in personal injury, housing, landlord and tenant matters and contentious and non-contentious probate matters.



Route to the case: 'The case was referred to us by one of Mr Hallowes' friends who brought him to the office for an initial interview and subsequent meeting. After that we would visit him on his plot of land as he did not have a telephone.'



Thoughts on the case: 'It was difficult in the beginning when the proceedings to obtain possession were in force. Initially, we had some interesting situations where we would deliver letters to the security guards and they would deliver them to him as he had no postal address and no phone - so no means of contact.



'At one point we communicated with him via the local authority, which assisted with getting letters to him.'



Aside from communications problems, Mr Evans said the case was 'relatively easy'.



'To us [as lawyers] it was a standard legal matter and there was no real special interest in terms of law but a lot of media interest,' he said.



Mr Evans confirmed that the case was publicly funded. 'It is exactly what you would expect as he effectively had no assets or money,' he said.



Dealing with the media: 'At the outset of the case, Mr Evans says the firm 'had no idea it would be so newsworthy'.



'For the press, the interesting thing was that, they allege, the plot of land was worth millions, which may or may not be true. Our only concern was to ensure that his legal rights were upheld. That's our job as lawyers.'



Anita Rice