Meet Oliver White, Barrister: A Commercial Barrister from London

Oliver White is a barrister based in London specializing in commercial litigation. In this interview he gives some background as to how he became a barrister, plus details on what a typical day could involve. If you would like to find out more about him, then please see his LinkedIn profile.

1. How did you first become interested in pursuing a career as a barrister?

My father spent his whole career in the practice of the law, albeit as a partner in a provincial but well-regarded solicitor's firm, in which he developed a specialty in commercial planning law. I remember attending a planning inquiry with him, only to discover that my father had instructed counsel to represent his client at the hearing.

Prior to this, I was unaware of the distinction in the profession between solicitor and counsel. I was fascinated about this division of labor, and by nature drawn towards the theatrical calling that is so often associated with a career at the bar. From that day, I cannot recall ever wanting to pursue a different career.

2. As a commercial barrister, what are some of the common types of cases you encounter in your practice?

The range of commercial disputes I have acted in or currently act in is unsurprisingly wide ranging, both in the legal problems and complexities each case discloses and also in terms of facts. However, as a general observation, many if not all commercial disputes contain certain underlying common themes, which in my experience are very human and flawed by nature in ways you might expect.

They include being motivated by greed, a hidden agenda which is driven by a belief in a need on some level to restore pride and exact revenge. Sadly, embarking on costly litigation is, I'm afraid to say, one of the least effective ways achieve any or all of the above.

3. What do you find most challenging about your work?

Every case presents its own unique set of challenges. Perhaps the most challenging is structuring the client's expectations of the likely outcome in a litigated dispute. Many clients only want to hear what they want to hear from their advisor, and I sometimes struggle to get through to an expectant and over-confident client the realistic strengths and weaknesses of their case.

As time goes on, I am improving my communication skills in relation to outcome prognosis, and hopefully this is increasingly helping my clients to be armed with a full and dispassionate overview of the merits of their case.

4. How do you envision your career path over the next five years?

At my age (37), I suppose it is just about realistic (albeit a trifle presumptuous) to be thinking of taking silk in five years time. It is certainly a target I would wish to set myself, and even if not achieved, it will hopefully provide a valuable motivational platform to increase the size and quality of my practice over the next five years.

If any potential clients are reading the interview, then they can find me on Google Maps by clicking on this custom map that I created: Oliver White Barrister on Google Maps.

Thanks, Oliver!

Meet Tracy Abildskov, Owner of TJ's Biomedical Imaging

Tracy Abildskov is the owner of TJ's Biomedical Imaging. He started as a student and began working around 1991 in the Brain Imaging and Behavior Lab at Brigham Young University. After several years, he developed some skills at illustrating different types of brain damage. In 1997, he started a small business developing interactive 3D presentations to help experts explain to juries the location and extent of brain damage. The visuals are objective, based on many years of science and research. To create the presentations, he uses a variety of imaging modalities like MRI, CT, SPECT & DTI. Radiologist reports and neuropsychologists' reports along with imaging techniques are used to identify the abnormalities seen by the radiologist. Models are then created, rendered, and incorporated into trial exhibits, medical illustrations, interactive 3D presentations, and physical models.

Learn more about the services provided by TJ's Biomedical Imaging and find out how 3D biomedical imaging works by exploring the samples linked here.

1. How do your 3D presentations allow viewers to better understand the way brain damage affects the brain?

After someone get injured in an accident, bones heal, hair grows back, and scars become less apparent. The problem is the brain does not come back as well as it was before the accident. Reserves are used, if not depleted. Abilities, like memory, planning, judgment, problem solving, vision, learning, and language spoken or understood, to name a few, are compromised or lost. Yet on the surface, a person might look fine. What I do is take whatever scans are available to me (MRI, CT, PET, SPECT, DTI or FMRI) and working in conjunction with neuro-psychologists or neuro-radiologists develop accurate, objective, personalized, 3D representations of that person's brain. These graphics then make things easier for the average person to understand what is going on when the expert starts explaining things.

2. Why are 3D exhibits a good way to demonstrate the extent of damage to laypeople such as jurors?

Instead of a generic model that is adapted to everyone, you can see John Smith's brain. You can see where the damage is. It can sometimes be hard for someone who has not been looking at scans for a few years to be able to recognize where the abnormalities are.

In the link below, you can see a simple video showing several co-registered scans. When paused you can see how each slice looks different while still looking at the same part of the brain. These differences are due to changes in the MRI parameters. Each sequence (T1, T2, FLAIR, PD, GRE) tell the neuro-radiologist something unique about the brain.

http://youtu.be/sz0qd5q6FDU

My job, as I see it, is to take all those complicated images, of which there might be thousands, and distill things down to the most relevant pieces of information that the experts can then use the educate judge or jury.

3. When creating exhibits meant for juries, are you generally collaborating with attorneys or doctors or both?

Each specialty (law, psychology, radiology, and rehab) brings a unique perspective when looking at the injured person. I then work with everyone to create demonstrative exhibits that can be used for the benefit for the injured person.

4. What are some other uses of your 3D presentations in addition to courtroom exhibits?

Everyone today is being asked to go faster and faster. Radiologists are asked to look at thousands of images and generate a report in 15 minutes or less. I am trying to expand my service into the medical profession to provide a quick overview on what the radiologist needs to focus on so they can be more accurate in their diagnostic impression. I also want to make things quicker and easier for the rehab specialist as well so they don't waste time on therapies that will be of no value to the injured person. There are so many different areas where this could help, but for right now it mostly used in a courtroom setting.

5. What would you most like our readers to understand about your work?

That there is more to a person than what they see on the surface. If you understand what is going on in the brain, you can better understand why the injured person is having problems.

Thanks, Tracy!