Best brains in...

Delivering complex, high-pressure land acquisitions and disposals in a short timescale. Where my team stands out is in handling the difficult deals others regard as an impenetrable minefield, such as those involving a diverse range of land ownership. Our best brains are in understanding where our clients' pressure points are and fielding a team large, experienced and adaptable enough to look after these spikes in activity.

Highlight of your career so far?

Advising the Miller Group on the £264 million acquisition of Fairclough Homes from Centex Corporation. We achieved a good, commercial result in a very short time. This required a huge effort from a large team to conduct a thorough assessment of Fairclough's property portfolio and the intellectual dexterity to determine key points.

Most challenging job you've ever done?

I have recently advised a consortium of land-owners, which consisted of two consortia of formerly rival developers, on a new residential development of up to 10,000 units in the south of England. It involved an extremely delicate balance of commercial concerns, central and local government politics and the aspirations of a large number of private individuals..

What's your definition of going the extra mile... And when have you done it?

Taking a view and not being afraid to share it. The clients I advise would say I have the courage to tell them when they are wrong and the ability to explain why. A lot of the people I work with are very successful and are not often contradicted. I hope I'm more than just a lawyer, using intuition and experience to help them make the decisions that are right for their businesses.

Give an example of your great client service.

Many lawyers have become over specialised, preventing them seeing a wider context or taking a commercial view. My team is so immersed in this industry that they understand the property, tax, planning and infrastructure requirements of large residential-led developments. It means we can provide our clients with commercially superior agreement.

Best example of a creative legal solution?

My team comes up with creative ideas to take investments off balance sheet enabling clients to acquire more assets for less gearing. We also frequently devise stamp duty land tax savings or other ideas to save our clients money. If a developer can save on the land cost it can pass that saving on, making its bid more attractive creating clear competitive advantage.

When have you ever given a client a real competitive edge?

We advised a client on the acquisition of various properties which would become one development. The property portfolio was complicated and difficult to value. Based on our experience of similar large-scale projects we encouraged the client to think about land value in a different way, saving it millions of pounds.

What's your single greatest contribution to Wragge & Co's corporate responsibility?

Helping clients purchase and develop contaminated sites that others wouldn't have the vision or courage to invest in. Together, we assist in the creation of profitable and environmentally safe developments.

What's been written or said about you that you're most proud of?

In this year's Legal 500 I'm described as "probably the best residential lawyer in the UK". In the Chambers UK directory, I'm recommended for my "brilliant intellectual capability". It also says that interviewees praise my "charismatic personality and positive attitude". I'm not sure about my charisma but I'd hope the rest is true