We have lawyers from every country and they work everywhere... including the North Pole! Bruce Hayter (Lawnet, EJ UK) was once the legal expert for a Polar exploration team and was thus implied in a fascinating adventure.
“It was a fantastic experience,” says Bruce. “It was a long-term project lasting three years and we worked directly with Pen”. The man Bruce refers to is Pen Hadow, a widely acclaimed Polar explorer, who led an Arctic expedition “that required no less than 37 different legal agreements, including sponsorship.”
It was a formidable human experience for the lawyer and his firm, Rix & Kay Solicitors. “We are still in contact with Pen and his crew,” Bruce says. “It was absolutely fantastic, the entire lawfirm got involved, we were all involved in the story. It was kind of dangerous for the explorers although they had all been to the North Pole before, but they gave me an update every day during their trek and I kept the whole firm informed. Everyone was cheering for them.”
The goal of the expedition was to measure the thickness of the ice cap. Accompanied by Ann Daniels, another leading polar explorer, and photographer Martin Hartley, Pen conducted the Caitlin Arctic Survey mission to the North Pole. There, the team collected extensive data about the frozen sea cap that is of crucial importance to understanding issues like global warming and the melting of arctic ice.
Legally speaking, Bruce had to arrange a large number of sponsorship agreements. “They had big backers like Nokia and Panasonic. There were also legal issues pertaining to them crossing several countries: a few different nations have rights in the Arctic area.” Last but not least, Bruce also had to work on insurance aspects, “just in case they got eaten by a polar bear!”
Bruce has worked with a significant number of sports companies, including football clubs. “We work for a club on the other side of the country but we have a very good long-distance relationship with them. In Pen's case, it was an even more long-distance relationship, considering he was in the North Pole!” This experience led him to meet a lot of interesting people: “We even met Prince Charles; he took an interest in the project and invited us to have coffee with him!” It also had a long-lasting effect on the lawfirm, which became more aware of environmental issues and subsequently joined the Legal Sector Alliance, an organisation of lawfirms striving to reduce their ecological footprint.
Pen Hadow himself spoke very highly of Bruce. “He was always available for us, whatever else he was doing, and he was ready to take the time to talk calmly to me about any concern I may have had. It seemed there was no question he could not answer! A project like ours brings very unusual challenges to a lawyer and I thought they would find it annoying, but Bruce was the total opposite: I could tell he totally embraced the challenge and sincerely enjoyed it. Such a legal team doesn't grow on trees!”
