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| Hideously diverse Britain: the man who sacked Tony Blair | Hideously diverse Britain: the man who sacked Tony Blair |
| (about 14 hours later) | |
| Sarosh Zaiwalla holds forth on a life in law. And he does know a thing or two. Tell me about Tony Blair, I say. "I met him on a flight and he was keen to get work from me in maritime law. It was the most desirable kind of work in the City of London; a status thing. It's so international." So how did it go with Blair the young barrister? "I sacked him," Zaiwalla says with a smile but no malice. "He was not prepared." Was he good? "He was too young. I think that was his first and only maritime case." | Sarosh Zaiwalla holds forth on a life in law. And he does know a thing or two. Tell me about Tony Blair, I say. "I met him on a flight and he was keen to get work from me in maritime law. It was the most desirable kind of work in the City of London; a status thing. It's so international." So how did it go with Blair the young barrister? "I sacked him," Zaiwalla says with a smile but no malice. "He was not prepared." Was he good? "He was too young. I think that was his first and only maritime case." |
| Zaiwalla's looking back because 30 years ago he became the first Asian to open a law firm in the City of London. Black and Asian solicitors did criminal and immigration work in the suburbs. Zaiwalla wanted something more interesting and forged ahead. His father, Ratanshaw Zaiwalla, is thought to have been the first Asian to qualify at the bar, back in 1925. The son began in shipping law and arbitration, branching out into non-shipping arbitration among other things. | Zaiwalla's looking back because 30 years ago he became the first Asian to open a law firm in the City of London. Black and Asian solicitors did criminal and immigration work in the suburbs. Zaiwalla wanted something more interesting and forged ahead. His father, Ratanshaw Zaiwalla, is thought to have been the first Asian to qualify at the bar, back in 1925. The son began in shipping law and arbitration, branching out into non-shipping arbitration among other things. |
| Some client list over time: the Dalai Lama, the Gandhis, the Bhuttos, Saddam Hussein, the Chinese government. It wasn't easy getting an Indian's law firm off the ground. Two things helped. The Indian high commissioner liked the idea of being represented by a young compatriot starting out in London. He made Zaiwalla the commission's solicitor. Also, Zaiwalla decided not to anglicise the name of the firm. "I decided that people should know me as me. That was the first secret of my survival." | Some client list over time: the Dalai Lama, the Gandhis, the Bhuttos, Saddam Hussein, the Chinese government. It wasn't easy getting an Indian's law firm off the ground. Two things helped. The Indian high commissioner liked the idea of being represented by a young compatriot starting out in London. He made Zaiwalla the commission's solicitor. Also, Zaiwalla decided not to anglicise the name of the firm. "I decided that people should know me as me. That was the first secret of my survival." |
| He built the firm, in large measure, by seeking work abroad where his name was no impediment, but it certainly doesn't harm him here now. His 30-year anniversary was celebrated last week with a House of Lords reception. "Things have changed so much," he says. "The profession is opening up. We have Mr Justice Singh, a brown-skinned judge at the high court." | He built the firm, in large measure, by seeking work abroad where his name was no impediment, but it certainly doesn't harm him here now. His 30-year anniversary was celebrated last week with a House of Lords reception. "Things have changed so much," he says. "The profession is opening up. We have Mr Justice Singh, a brown-skinned judge at the high court." |
| The best thing about Britain, he says, is its conscience. "Even Gandhi knew he could appeal to that." As for Tony Blair, their paths cross. Before the war in Iraq, Zaiwalla intervened with a message from Saddam Hussein. Blair rebuffed it. Use the courts, was Zaiwalla's refrain to Saddam. No lawyer would say otherwise. Still, it could all have been so different. | The best thing about Britain, he says, is its conscience. "Even Gandhi knew he could appeal to that." As for Tony Blair, their paths cross. Before the war in Iraq, Zaiwalla intervened with a message from Saddam Hussein. Blair rebuffed it. Use the courts, was Zaiwalla's refrain to Saddam. No lawyer would say otherwise. Still, it could all have been so different. |