1. Who are you and what do you do?
I am Simon Catterall and I represent individuals and businesses that get into trouble with the police and authorities. I absolutely love my job and relish the challenges of the criminal justice system. No two days are the same, every case is different, and I never know who or what I might have to deal with from one week to the next. It can be frantic but its fab.
2. Where did you go to school/university?
St Francis RC Acklam, Swainby Village Junior School, Mount St Marys College Sheffield and Chester College of Law.
3. What brought you back to Teesside and Jacksons in particular?
Dad and Mum were from Teesside and my three brothers and I grew up here. Although I worked in London for several years it was always my intention to come back, the opportunity arsing in 1987 when the firm approached me to take over their criminal caseload. I was prosecuting for the CPS at the time, but I had no hesitation in accepting because Jacksons were the leading practice in the area by some margin. They still are.
4. What changes or difficulties have you seen in Teesside during the time you’ve been with Jacksons?
Where to start? 34 years at the firm is a long time and there have been enormous changes. However, in my own area I have observed successive governments slowly dismantling the criminal justice system because everything is driven by money. Fewer and fewer people go to court these days, not because people offend any less than they used to but because it is too expensive for the exchequer to process them. Serious incidents, or incidents that used to be considered serious, are dealt with by caution or fixed penalty or sometimes are simply not followed up because of a lack of resources and/or too much red tape.
Technology has made a huge difference to the legal profession as it has done to every other. Courts are now on line and tagging ensures further savings by effectively locking criminals up at their own expense instead of the government’s. CCTV and social media tools such as WhatsApp and Facebook are also hugely relevant both in the commission and detection of crime which is itself becoming more and more online with cops and robbers chasing each other through a virtual world.
There has been a seismic change in the sentencing of offenders, one of the few areas of the justice system that has changed for the better. There are now clear and consistent sentencing guidelines for courts which are constantly updated to keep up with the fast forward times in which we live. The local magistrates and judiciary are also much better trained and informed than they were when I started off and drawn from a far wider spectrum of society, which is how it should be.
5. How do you see the future for the region?
We live in a region historically reliant upon the chemical, steel and engineering industries, and when these declined, there was nothing of substance to replace them. The turning point was probably the closure of the SSI Steelworks, a huge blow to people in Redcar and the regional economy, but looking back it was a clarion call for change. After years of missing out, the area is finally being noticed by Westminster and attracting overdue investment from central government and elsewhere. Many used to regard ‘Northern Powerhouse’ as just a sound bite however, there is suddenly a very positive mood sweeping the region and the future looks bright.
6. What projects have you been involved with which you are most proud to be associated with?
I enjoyed being a council member of the Tees Valley Law Society for 25 years becoming its president in 2009. I was also involved in the Stan Hollis memorial committee that managed to fund and place a statue outside Stewarts Park near the museum. Stan Hollis was born at Archibald Street, Middlesbrough in 1912 and went on to become the only person to be awarded the Victoria Cross (VC) on D-day and it seemed fitting to me that he should be remembered in some way. I am also an author in my spare time and have written two novels mainly utilising the hours spent hanging waiting for jury verdicts. The first, Hob Hole, was published in 2015. The sequel, The Raven and the Pipe will be released in a few weeks. I always wanted to write a novel or two and while you can only do what you can do, I am very proud of both.
7. What do you do to keep in touch with the business community in the area?
We have a large and varied client base and we are constantly learning from them. Otherwise getting out and about again, catching up with people, social media, reading the papers, following the news. On a slightly different note, I always found if you want to know what is going on in any town, get to know the landlords, restaurateurs and taxi drivers. They don’t miss much.
8. Sum up why Jacksons is a great place to work in one sentence.
‘Still crazy after all these years.’
Simon Catterall Partner, Regulatory
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