Steve describes the moment he stepped off the train at Liverpool Lime Street for the first time in 1984 as “an overwhelming sense of wellbeing and happiness that stuck with me throughout my time at the University of Liverpool. I knew from that moment it was going to be great and it truly was.” “I had never been to Liverpool before, but I knew on that train journey that it was going to be fantastic.” Clearly it was, as over 30 years later Steve is still here in Liverpool contributing to the future of the Liverpool Law School and the city.
After graduating, Steve went to Chester Law School for a year before selling Belgian chocolates in Harrods - including to Princess Diana - then worked briefly on a French campsite before starting a solicitors training contract at Weightmans. In 1999 he was made a partner at the firm where he is now Regional Office Head for Liverpool.
“Steve has never forgotten the Liverpool Law School”, says Professor Debra Morris, Dean of the School of Law and Social Justice who nominated him for the award. “He supports the School - both by helping numerous students with employability opportunities, including providing placements, acting as a mentor, speaking at numerous events - and also at a more strategic level by sitting on the Law School Advisory Board.”
Steve is always the first to volunteer to help the School and is a member of the recently established Liverpool Law School Alumni Association board. In the last 18 months he has helped to organise an event at Weightmans’ London office with Lord David Hunt of Wirral and recently hosted a quiz for Liverpool Law Alumni.
When asked why he spends his time volunteering, he said: “It is so much tougher for law graduates these days and if I can do anything to make their journey through education and into employment a little easier then I relish that opportunity.”