about me

PRACTICE: I was called to the Bar by Middle Temple in 1982 (ad eundem Lincoln's Inn. Of course my ridiculous horsehair wig was made to measure by Ede & Ravenscroft, Chancery Lane). Particular areas of practice included insolvency, crime, government contracts and private client (a wide range of subjects there). When I retired in good standing in 2009, I was practising at 13 Old Square Chambers, Lincoln's Inn, London. In my time I've been a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, a ditto of the Royal Society of Arts, a ditto of the Royal Geographical Society, a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Law School, a Visiting Fellow here, a Visiting Professor there, etc.

INSURANCE: I took a particular interest in the colossal back- and front-office frauds at international insurance and reinsurance monstrosity, Lloyd's of London. I doubt if more than 0.5% of self-professed specialists, in England and America, knew how it worked or what was really going on. My Lloyd's cases involved massive dishonesty, in London and the USA, by insurers, brokers, legislators, regulators and the policyholder victims' own specialist insurance lawyers. I appeared on radio and TV, organised and spoke at international professional conferences, and wrote books and articles. For free, you can download here, at archive.org, two books and a collection of published articles: at least one of those articles was game-changing for some US Lloyd's policyholders to the tune of billions of US dollars.

INHERITANCE: The last five years of my practice were monopolised by a friend's inheritance problems of which he and various estates were victims. Millions of pounds and dollars were involved, and the wholesale theft of a substantial art collection. Just like that. The culprit criminals included four solicitors, a Lausanne lawyer and an American lawyer, all retained by the victims; two fellow heirs, two fellow executors, and some insider luvvies at a couple of famous auction houses. (Many striking Mumsy-Sonny similiarities to the Marshall-Morrissey hosing of Brooke Astor.) On almost all issues, it proved impossible for my friend and me to get a straight answer out of the executors' own lawyers, or to find a specialist lawyer in England or Switzerland anywhere close to our standards. We came up against so many specialist professional dishonest corrupt unpleasant charlatans and idiots! I quickly became fluent and functional in Swiss (federal and Vaud) civil, criminal and inheritance law (in French); US state (New Jersey, Florida) inheritance law; and English inheritance law, and did almost nothing except try to help my friend. The stress of this huge, never-ending case basically killed him.

RETIREMENT; PRESENT STATUS: In 2009 my friend died and I retired in good standing. At Middle Temple my status is now 'Withdrawn Membership' and my category there is 'Non-Practising Barrister' (Middle Temple's Head of Membership's October 10, 2022 letter, 'To whomever it may concern'). 

LITTLE DID HE KNOW;  A SPECIALIST FIRM: I'm grateful that my wonderful, so deeply missed friend never knew (but I think he did have an inkling) what further additional massive inheritance criminality was to assail his (and my) inheritance affairs after his death. What has followed is inheritance criminality involving three estates and almost a score of other lawyer criminals (solicitors, barristers and at least one Swiss lawyer), seven more heir criminals including members of his own family, and others (lawyer regulators, a policeman, police complaints, a judge, etc.). This is a continuing multi-million-dollar saga of the very worst, most bestial, most dissipated white-collar art theft and much other crime besides, committed largely by specialist inheritance lawyers — inherent and exherent criminals — both with and independent of nine heir criminals. It's worth watching. Check out inheritancecrime.com, the website of my inheritance crime consulting firm, MHNA.

For instance:-

• INHERITANCE CRIME: MHNA, my consulting firm dealing with heavy-duty international inheritance crime by heirs, executors, administrators and lawyers. The website gives you full value on what's it's all about

• GLOBAL MULTIMEDIA CHANNEL AND ENTERPRISE: TheInheritanceChannel.com, an early-stage global multimedia start-up covering a subject of relevance and interest to 100% of the world's population. If I can only get it off the ground with backers who really understand it, we'll be talking a substantial business

• DAMN MOZART: I've had on my mind for some time to play all twenty-five Mozart one-piano piano concertos in various interesting locations around the world with local musicians. Planning is now in progress (here's a photo of me playing Mozart to a captive audience at Sheriff Joe's Tent City Jail). The truth is, I happen to dislike playing the piano, and do it rarely. Something bothers me about a machine — and what a machine — pretending to be a musical instrument. But I can turn a really good tune in a way you'll have never heard before, and there's nothing like playing a piano concerto with an orchestra or even a second piano. Some folks who have heard some real deals have said they've never heard the piano played quite the way I play it, and they weren't being facetious. Now if I can only find Arthur Rubinstein's piano (last time I inquired it was in Italy)

• CHOCOLATES: Here's some badly needed psychotherapy for the perfectionist. Take something small — really small — and execute really well: no such thing as flawless, but try getting as close as you can. Maybe hand-make a tiny piece of jewelry, or a tiny watch, or an origami elephant that's doesn't look like a piece of folded paper. Just make something tiny as perfectly as you can, one at a time, and then sit back and enjoy it. I'm now teaching myself to make little chocolates and little decorated bonbonnières into which to put them. I've owed an awful lot to chocolate's comforting properties over the years. It's time to return the favor. Designing the shapes, making the moulds, formulating the recipes, sourcing the ingredients (never fresh cream), confecting, and tasting, always tasting. My chocolates are about as good as it gets. I expect the first retail batch will be ready around April 2026. You'll be able to buy the limited editions by mail order

• PUBLISHING AND MEDIA BUSINESS: check out Anatexis.Media. Here are the mockup covers of four of the six books now in the works. You can find out more about them on the Anatexis.Media website. (I've done it before, in a bigger-smaller way: download for free some of my barrister-era books here, from archive.org.)