Author: Catherine Bates

I believe that very strongly. Size may matter but age doesn’t. Mostly! I often forget that I’m 54. I don’t feel it. I don’t look it and I certainly don’t act it! And yet despite really being a 25 (ish) year old in a fabulously well preserved body, I still have a wealth of knowledge and experience. Despite my […]

I often tell my team not to ask a question unless you can deal with the answer. Don’t ask an opponent or the other sides witness a question unless you can handle it. If you are cross examining a witness, don’t ask them if they are sure about a date or a fact, unless you can […]

I did a blog a few weeks ago about how clients often say they want simple contracts, and not War and Peace, to which I always reply that that’s fine, but if it means leaving out important things, you may find that you’d have been better off not bothering with the cost of an agreement […]

You may look at life and think it has changed dramatically from how things were when you were a kid. But has anything really changed? We didn’t have the internet – but we still exchanged endless stupid jokes – we just did it in person rather than on WhatsApp. We may have been careful about […]

There are lots of things we all do in our lives that have unintended consequences. If I drink too much, I may really enjoy myself on my night out, but it increases the chances of me falling asleep and missing my stop on the way home. I’ve never done this, honestly, (I’ve done some very silly […]

Sometimes I read headlines or hear about situations where you just think “but that’s so obvious”. For example, when reporters ask people how they feel about things, when their reaction is so predictable that you wonder how they answer without being sarcastic. So tell me, as a Southampton FC fan, how do you feel about […]

There are plenty of aspects of the law that we’re all familiar with. We all know that we shouldn’t speed and you don’t need a solicitor to tell you that if you drink and drive, and get caught, you’ll almost certainly lose your licence. We all know that if you get divorced, there will have […]

That might sound obvious, but sometimes, by the time you realise just how key it is, it’s too late. You probably assume that I’m talking about couples who are on the verge of getting divorced or business partners who are falling out, and yes, that is a good time to improve your communication skills. But […]

For those of you who know me well, you’ll know that my partner David Meathrel has a background in financial services, having worked for a number of FTSE 100 companies for many years, before he decided to take it easy (!!!!) by joining me to run a number of companies including a law firm. This means that […]

There are many times in life when you suddenly realise that something you had always accepted as reality is not the case. As a young child you often believe your parents are always right.  You believe them when they say that Santa won’t bring you gifts unless you’re good and that the Tooth Fairy brings money […]