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Robert Miller

After a hesitant start, being a GLS lawyer has definitely grown on Robert Miller, a Senior civil servant at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in Bristol.

Robert previously worked in private practice for six years in Scotland, where he qualified as a lawyer. He says there is less of a distinction there between solicitors and barristers. “Solicitors tend to do a lot of their own court appearances in the process of litigation. I basically trained as a solicitor.”

Robert came to the GLS through a six-month contract at the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) in Scotland. “My wife, who’s also a GLS lawyer, had started doing locum work with the CICA,” he recalls. “I was working in private practice at the time, doing a mix of civil and criminal litigation work, and short-term work with the CICA seemed an interesting alternative. While there I was employed as a Board’s Advocate and followed through my own cases.”

Robert got into the swing of CICA litigation work, and his contract was renewed for another six months and then another year. At that point his job was advertised as a permanent position and he was invited to apply. “Having got over the culture shock, such as having to post my own business letters, I was more than happy when I was formally appointed to the job,” he says. “I stayed at the CICA for six years, during which time my wife and I both qualified to practice in England and Wales through the Qualified Lawyer Transfer Test (QLTT).”

Not long afterwards, the couple took the decision to respond to a GLS advert for commercial lawyers for the MoD. Both were successful, and they moved to London for seven months before relocating to Bristol in October 1996.

“I joined the same team which I head up now, and we settled comfortably in Bristol,” says Robert. “In some ways I’m something of an anomaly as a GLS lawyer, as I’ve been promoted twice at the MoD without moving around other Government Departments first. Unlike many Government lawyers, I’ve never worked directly on a Bill or even a Statutory Instrument. I now enjoy the challenge of managing a team of lawyers – my job is around 50 per cent management and 50 per cent law – and I’ve developed expertise in specialised areas of the law, such as public procurement."

“I do believe the GLS is a very special community of lawyers. In private practice you tend to focus on one outcome, whereas within Government you work as part of a team. You share common goals and the approach is far more cooperative. Through facilities like LION (Legal Information Online Network), a dedicated intranet service, you can locate another GLS lawyer who can guide you in a specific area of law."

“A recent example for me was finding someone who could answer a client’s question about stamp duty land tax. I was able to get advice from an Inland Revenue lawyer and relayed the answer to my client the next day. It’s wonderful to have that kind of reciprocal back-up system. And now I don’t even have to post my own business letters!”