CELEBRITY LAWYER CEMENTS HIS STATUS
CELEBRITY LAWYER CEMENTS HIS STATUS
SHOWBIZ and the somewhat more drab world of the law aren’t usually professions that share column inches, but a City immigration lawyer is doing his level best to change that perception.
Philip Trott, head of immigration at Bates Wells & Braithwaite solicitors, has been enjoying more than his usual share of the limelight over the past week, after acting for multi-millionaire rapper Snoop Dogg in his appeal against a ruling to refuse him entry to the UK in 2007.
It’s far from the first time Trott has dealt with high-profile celebrities, either – former clients include fellow rappers P Diddy, 50 Cent and Busta Rhymes.
“Over the years I’ve done lots of work for pop stars, TV stars, film stars, and as a breed they’re all much of a muchness,” says our man, casually. “They tend to have the common theme that egos run quite high…”
Confirmation of all our suspicions, I’m sure. Still, Trott himself may well soon be basking in the glow of rap celebrity, after creative minds at The Lawyer magazine penned a rap especially for him: “It’s the bow to the wow, creepin and crawlin / Yiggy yes y’allin, Bates Wells a-callin…”
“The clients think it’s hilarious,” Trott tells me. “They’ve told me I should rap it at Snoop Dogg’s next concert, though I’m not sure he’d be too happy at the thought.”
IT’S ALL IN A NAME
Word reaches The Capitalist of one particular City fund manager who refuses point blank to allow companies into his investment portfolio unless their names are worthy of an amusing nickname.
In that spirit – and as a surefire bit of proof that investors in Prudential were a bit narked with the firm’s all-too-brief series of meetings with shareholders in London last week – said fund manager has devised an entirely new moniker for the insurer, “The Poo”. Childish, admittedly, yet strangely satisfying.
A SPADE’S A SPADE
Again, a spot of proof, that Mayor of London Boris Johnson’s beloved £16bn Crossrail project may be coming along just a smidgeon behind schedule.
A chum working in an office overlooking the building work at Finsbury Circus – just one of the stations on the route, which will link Heathrow to the West End via the City and Canary Wharf – reports back on progress at the site.
Apparently, last week, one worker actually spent an entire day on the Finsbury Circus pavilion digging away with a spade. Which says it all, really.
ALL WORK, NO PLAY
A touch of the old school reemerges at Cazenove, still known thus by most in the City despite JP Morgan taking over 100 per cent ownership of the group at the beginning of the year.
One insider tells me he has taken to joking about the number of people at the firm who do the vast bulk of their work over the middle three days of the working week – freeing up Monday and Friday if client entertainment or other needs call.
Apparently, the label du jour for such staffers is “TW*Ts” – standing for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, in case anyone is tempted to infer anything else. Very droll.