Solicitor Jonathan Lea makes the short trip up from Bargate Murray HQ at Shoreditch’s Silicon Roundabout to Legal Cheek’s Dalston studios. There, he is greeted by a deeply-tanned Kevin Poulter (freshly back from his hols in California) and the distressingly pale Alex Aldridge (who hasn’t been on holiday since 1997).
In the last six years, Lea, who started out at Clyde & Co, has worked at a variety of law firms and done a spell as a freelance lawyer and social media consultant before arriving at Bargate Murray, which does a lot of work advising tech start-ups. He reckons lawyers these days need to be flexible and willing to “hustle” if they’re going survive in an often cut-throat market.
Happily, Lea and Poulter, a rising star in the employment team at Bircham Dyson Bell, possess the necessary robust psychological make-up to handle the pressures faced by solicitors these days – unlike the slightly unhinged ex-Hogan Lovells partner Christopher Grierson, who was jailed this week for stealing £1million from his hapless firm to feed his call girl habit.
Nor have clean-cut Lea and Poulter ever been tempted to delve into the world of drugs previously inhabited by 4 New Square pupil barrister Henry Mostyn, who, it emerged on Monday, was arrested recently for possession of cocaine and ecstasy.
“For most of us attorneys, just eating a late night pizza at the diner is exciting,” says Poulter, who seems different, somehow, following his recent trip stateside. Listen to all the fun they had (which was heightened by a silent cameo appearance from an Italian journalist) in the podcast below.
The podcast is also available on iTunes.