Michael Mansfield
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- For the former United States senator from Montana, see Mike Mansfield.
Michael Mansfield QC (born 12 October 1941) is an English barrister, regarded as one of the top six criminal defence advocates in the UK.[1]He has made his name defending unpopular clients, often in highly politicized cases of proven or suspected miscarriage of justice, including the Guildford Four, the Birmingham Six, and Barry George, the accused in the Jill Dando murder. [1] (pdf) He will also represent Mohamed Al-Fayed at the inquest into the deaths of Princess Diana, Dodi Fayed, and their driver Henri Paul.
A republican, vegetarian, and bicycle-riding socialist, he is often referred to as a "champagne socialist" because he is one of the highest paid lawyers in England, though he has said that 95 per cent of his work comes from legal aid. [2]
[edit] Personal life
He grew up in Finchley, North London, and attended Holmewood Preparatory School (Woodside Park) before going to Highgate School and the University of Keele, where he graduated with a B.A. (Hons) in history and philosophy, before becoming President of Keele's Students Union. He was called to the bar at Gray's Inn in 1967, and became Queen's Counsel in 1989. [3] He has been married twice, to his first wife for 19 years, and then to Yvette. He is currently the President of the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers.
[edit] Famous cases
As well as those wrongly convicted of the IRA's Guildford and Birmingham pub bombings, Mansfield has represented the Angry Brigade, the Price sisters, the Orgreave miners, James Hanratty, those involved in the Israeli Embassy bombing, Stephen Lawrence's family, Michael Barrymore at the Stuart Lubbock inquest, Angela Cannings, [4] (pdf) and Fatmir Limaj, a Kosovo-Albanian leader prosecuted in The Hague.
[edit] References
- ^ A law unto himself:Interview The Guardian, Lynn Barber, retreived 15 January 2007
- Barber, Lynn. "A law unto himself", The Observer, January 19, 2003
- No byline. Michael Mansfield QC, Tooks Chambers, retrieved December 20, 2005
- Who's Who, 2006
