LAWYER IN THE NEWS Making headlines WITH LAWYER IN THE NEWS APPROACHING ITS 250TH ANNIVERSARY, NEIL ROSE RECOUNTS THE COLUMN'S SERIOUS AND QUIRKY STORIES AND RECALLS THE SOLICITORS UNEXPECTEDLY THRUST INTO THE SPOTLIGHT Few solicitors are lucky enough to gain fame and fortune during their careers.

But while many would prefer the fortune, some end up with just the fame of being the Gazette's Lawyer in the News.As the weekly column heads towards clocking up its 250th question-and-answer session, now is a good time to look back on what is fast becoming a venerable legal institution.

Imran Khan, solicitor to the family of Stephen Lawrence, was the first Lawyer in the News on 20 September 1995.

The column was initially quite short, just outlining the case and solicitors' background, until expanding to take in the subject's thoughts on the case, how they found dealing with the media, and occasionally more unusual enquiries.

The criterion for getting into the column is simple enough: be mentioned in the media.

It is usually not enough to have a client mentioned in the news, because most subjects are selected by the uncomplicated method of searching through newspapers or watching the television.

This does not mean that several solicitors do not put themselves forward - usually with a self-conscious 'my partner suggested I give you a call' - and even submit entries with all the questions filled out.

Even those lawyers who, owing to the nature of their work, have a policy of not speaking to the press, make an exception for Lawyer in the News - Myra Hindley's solicitor, Carolyn Taylor of Taylor Nichol, is a good example.

The column has featured the biggest cases of the day - virtually every lawyer involved in the Bulger case has been interviewed over the years - as well as some rather more frivolous episodes.Unsurprisingly, it is often civil liberties, personal injury, criminal, libel and employment cases which make it into the media; solicitors from firms such as London-based civil liberties practice Bindman & Partners, Altrincham-based clinical negligence specialists Alexander Harris, and London-based personal injury/employment firm Thompsons have often featured in the column.

And publicity breeds publicity.

Grainne Barton of Alexander Harris told the column last year that her firm was instructed in one case after the client saw its profile in The Times.At the same time, there is also a small group of lawyers who have made it into the papers on their own account.

Poole solicitor Sheriff Payne, for example, who in 1998 found himself in the news after the ex-husband of a woman for whom he was acting in the divorce, drove his car at Mr Payne, leaving him on crutches.

'A solicitor acting in civil proceedings never expects any harm at the hands of his opponent,' he said.

'I now have concerns for my family and children.' Then there was Leeds solicitor David Honeybone.

He hit the headlines for objecting to a racially offensive speech given at a charity lunch by a barrister who was subsequently found guilty of professional misconduct.

On a far lighter note, Rory Mulvihill found himself in the column for being the first amateur actor in 27 years to play the part of Jesus in the 1996 York cycle of mystery plays.

'He's been playing God for years,' friends were quoted as saying.

The way solicitors get the clients who thrust them both into the spotlight varies greatly.

Many criminal lawyers - such as Rosemary West's solicitor, Leo Goately - were simply on the duty solicitor rota.

For Bindmans partner Neil O'May, it was 'an expertise in explosives cases' - not much competition there, presumably.

Richard Cramer of Leeds firm McCormicks was instructed by rugby league great Ellery Hanley after a chance meeting in the changing rooms of a sports club.One recent Lawyer in the News, Helen Broughton of Liverpool firm Morecroft Urquhart, said that when she received a call asking if she would act for Tranda Wecker, the birth mother of the so-called Internet twins, 'I thought it was a wind-up at first, but then I was asked to go to Birmingham the next day to represent Tranda in court.

I thought: "Why not?"'Reflecting the profession as a whole, the backgrounds of the various interviewees are by no means just a procession of law degrees, law schools, training contracts and then lifelong careers with the same firm; some solicitors have moved so many times that they either cannot remember where they worked or are too embarrassed to admit to all the changes.

Some older solicitors were in the Army, for example, before qualifying via the old five-year articles route for non-graduates which is no longer available.

The nature of degrees is pretty diverse as well - Paul Barrow of Liverpool firm Quinn Melville, who acted for the Louise Woodward Support Fund, studied marine zoology.

Wah-Piow Tan of London firm Tanburghs, who acted for families of the 58 Chinese people who died last year in a lorry while being smuggled into the UK, is a political exile from Singapore.It is often a feature of solicitors that they shift the focus of their practices during their careers.

Henry Milner, a criminal law specialist who acted for M25 road rage killer Kenneth Noye, is a good example.

'I tried my hand at divorce law but soon lost interest,' he said.

'One day a woman came in and said: "Guess what my husband did to me last night? He threw a dustbin over my head." I thought, "It's not legal advice she needs".

That was my last divorce case.'But for the most exotic background, it is hard to beat Nick Makin, who acted for 'vigilante' farmer Tony Martin and whose career includes a spell as chief magistrate in Gizo in the Solomon Islands.Lawyers' thoughts on their case often reflect the importance of the issues involved; others speak more generally.

Trevor Coleman, whose secondary role as under-sheriff of Devon meant he had the task of evicting eco-warrior Swampy and his friends from the site of the proposed A30 bypass, said he had 'some respect' for the protesters.

'Everyone would agree that they don't want the whole of England covered in tarmac,' he explained.

In 1997, Richard Kempner, a partner at Addleshaw Booth & Co, was advising scientist Sir Roger Penrose on his copyright infringement claim that Kleenex quilted lavatory paper was embossed with a unique design - the Penrose Pattern - which he created.

'We are not taking this matter sitting down,' Mr Kempner declared.

'Sir Roger is not pleased to see the nation wipe its bottom on his work.' The case later settled confidentially.

Dealing with the press produces very different reactions; some love their moment in the sun, while others find the experience more harrowing.

'Both my client and I were hounded throughout the case,' said Birmingham solicitor Jane Siddons after she acted in 1999 for a teacher eventually acquitted of indecently assaulting a 15-year-old pupil.

'At one point I was even followed into the toilet for comments during the trial.' Thompsons partner Anthony Alwell, who acted in a similar case the same year, recalled: 'The worst day of my life was when someone told me that the News of the World wanted to talk to me.

They later camped out in reception.'Those with more regular experience of the press, such as footballer Paul Gascoigne's lawyer Mel Stein, both know how to play the game and also have more chance to grow cynical.

Dealing with the press is 'very difficult', he said after Gazza's birthday celebrations before Euro 96, during which a Singapore Airlines jet was said to have been damaged.

His client, however, 'is a really nice guy.

I would rather spend an evening with him than with any journalist I know'.Unsurprisingly, those defending clients in serious cases often have bad experiences.

North London practitioner Graeme Hydari, who acted for an infamous paedophile, said: 'It is very difficult dealing with the media in such a case...

I think it is significant that although the Crown's case was reported in detail, none of the extensive mitigation was covered at all, which does not provide balanced or fair reporting.'Similarly, Michael Mackey, who acted for Sally Clark, the solicitor convicted of killing her two children, complained the press was 'totally unaware of the concessions made by the prosecution witnesses during cross-examination', leading to a 'totally one-sided reporting of the case'.

He added: 'It seemed obvious that the press enjoyed the fact that they had a solicitor for a target.' At the same time, many solicitors recognise the importance of the media in giving their clients a chance to have their say.

Trevor Linn, who acted for Reggie Kray over the refusal of parole, perhaps explained it best: 'In certain cases, the media is absolutely essential - particularly when one feels the Court of Appeal has to be dragged kicking and screaming to release people.

Often it is public pressure and campaigning that can win the case and not always the clever, forensic skills of lawyers.' However, there is a danger in the media spotlight, as Oliver Kirk, who recently acted for Dutch lorry driver Perry Wacker in the Chinese immigrant case, explained: 'I bet it's easy to get sidetracked by the attention and become a bit of a media darling.' There is another tension between solicitors and reporters.

As Hampshire solicitor Malcolm Hannaford - who acted for Patrick Nicholls, cleared of a murder after 23 years in prison - noted, the media's demands 'are completely opposite to what solicitors are all about.

Lawyers are more interested in detail, the media in soundbites'.

Or as James Nichol, Carolyn Taylor's partner, said in 1996 after acting for former Army officer Colin Wallace in quashing a manslaughter conviction: 'As long as you do not use more than three words, you're okay.

They're not interested otherwise.' Even more succinct advice came from another Alexander Harris partner, David Harris, who said: 'The golden rule is "Never speak to The Sun".'On occasion, the column has asked some odd questions.

Bindmans partner Stephen Grosz - one of the first lawyers in the news - was asked on his future plans.

'More judicial reviews,' he said and has kept to his word.

Liverpool solicitor Frank Dillon was asked, for no obvious reason, what his fantasy life would be.

'Living in the Latin quarter of Paris' was the romantic reply.

Sonia Sims, who acted for Matthew Simmons - the recipient of Eric Cantona's kung-fu kick - was asked who she supported: 'Tottenham Hotspur, a fact she told Mr Simmons at the start.

He did not mind.'Others just throw in useless information.

Slough lawyer Tanweer Ikram, who acted in a massive gun-running case, insisted that his 1961 Mk2 Jaguar 3.4 was mentioned.

'The classic 1960s villains' getaway car,' he proudly reported.

After trawling through so many memorable cases, we finish with David Greene, a partner at London firm Edwin Coe, who in 1997 acted for the London Committee of Call Girls - partly on a pro-bono basis - in its successful complaint to the Office of Fair Trading over an agreement to block the telephone lines of women who advertised sexual services in BT call boxes.

His main concern was a referral to the Restrictive Trade Practices Court, which asked him to investigate the market.

'Having no experience of the market,' he was quick to point out, 'it's a rather difficult project.' And the best joke on this particular case seems best to sum up all lawyers in the news: 'We're all solicitors.'