Congratulations to Peter Savory, winner of the Gray’s Inn Moot Final on 14.5.18 and recipient of our inaugural prize in memory of Clive Nicholls QC, awarded at the event by his twin brother, Colin Nicholls QC. Clive’s widow Alison and daughter Jacqui were also honoured guests.
Clive died in February 2017, aged 84. He had been a member of Chambers for 60 years and was Head of Chambers from 1994 until 2010. He was still a valued member of Chambers, active in advisory work well beyond his 80th birthday. Clive was called to the Bar in 1957. He had graduated with his twin brother, Colin Nicholls QC, who is still a member of chambers, from Trinity College, Dublin and both became leading lights in their respective fields after joining Chambers. Clive took silk in 1980, he sat as a Recorder of the Crown Court between 1984 and 1999 and became a Bencher of Gray’s Inn in 1989.
Clive’s was a stellar career. He had a wide range of work and was able to apply his mind to legal issues in a number of disciplines. He specialised in extradition and the roll-call of cases in which he appeared speaks for itself – Nielsen (a landmark case which overturned 100 years of extradition law), Pinochet, Osman, and many other high profile matters. He appeared in courts all over the world and was internationally acknowledged as a leader in his field.
Throughout Clive’s practice, and in his 16 years as Head of Chambers, he was a genuine father-figure and mentor, ever humorous, radiating dynamism and energy beyond his years and always making himself available to help other members of Chambers. He embodied and exemplified all the virtues of the Bar as a profession: he was a man of integrity who took great pleasure in his work and whose courtesy to fellow barristers never wavered, even in the most hard fought of cases.
With a touching speech, Colin presented Peter with the prize of a cheque for £1,500 plus a copy of “The Law of Extradition and Mutual Assistance” (in which Clive was the lead author), now in its third edition.
Peter Savory was a worthy winner of the final against stiff competition and we have been interested to learn of his background. He studied trombone and took a music degree at the Guildhall School of London, and built a career in the classical music agency world, responsible for touring orchestras around the world, particularly in Europe and Asia. Clients included the London Symphony, the Royal Philharmonic and the Mariinksy Opera, as well as diverse ensembles throughout Europe.
He took the LLB at the Open University as a distance-learner and secured a First in 2017, and was the recipient of a CPE/GDL award from Gray’s Inn to support his final year.
Peter is currently studying the BPTC full-time at BPP and is looking forward to commencing pupillage at Farrar’s Building this October, where he hopes to build a broad-based practice.
Peter also won second 2TG/Times moot in 2017, and has been finalist in several others, including FTB and Landmark. We congratulate him on all his achievements and wish him every success at the Bar.
We are proud to associate our new award with the Gray’s Inn Moot Final, continuing a tradition we started with the DuCann Advocacy Prize, which ran from 2008 to 2017. We look forward to the next ten years honouring the memory of Clive Nicholls QC.
16th May 2018
