Mike O"Brien > Chambers of Adrian Keeling KC and Jonathan Jones KC > London, England > Barrister Profile

Mike O"Brien

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Position

Mike is a former law officer, he was solicitor general for the UK 2005-07, and he served for 14 years as a Government Minister. Mike trained in Birmingham as a solicitor. He was a lecturer in Contract and Business Law 1981-87. He practised criminal law 1987-92 dealing with insider dealing, fraud, five cases of murder and a defendant in the Knightsbridge Safe Deposit Robbery, allegedly the biggest robbery in British history. He was also a solicitor advocate for two years. Elected to Parliament in 1992 he was on the Home Affairs and Treasury Select Committees and was Parliamentary adviser to the Police Federation before being appointed to the front bench as a Shadow Treasury minister in 1994 and later going into government. He is a member of HM Privy Council and was appointed by HM as a Queens Counsel in 2007 whilst solicitor general. On leaving Parliament in May 2010, he practised briefly as a solicitor before deciding to transfer to the Bar. He worked on a series of cases with David Lock QC from January 2011 to the March including local government and health related judicial reviews and procurement cases. Clients have the opportunity to brief counsel with an extensive experience of how the public sector works, as well as the person who brought into law many important Acts of Parliament. Mike specialises in public law, where the rights of citizens and the public sector are involved.

Career

Called 1954; Middle Temple; lecturer Contract and Business Law 1981-87; practised Criminal Law 1987-92; Shadow Minister for The City 1994-97; Home Office Minister, took Human Rights Act through the Commons 1997-99; Minister for Constitutional Affairs, acts on freedom of information, electoral reform, party finance and Northern Ireland 1999-2001; Foreign Office Minister dealing with the Middle East, Iraq and Afghanistan 2002-03; Minister of State for Trade 2003-04; Energy Minister 2004-05; solicitor general and law officer, appointed Queen’s Counsel, companies and Fraud Acts 2005-07; Minister of State for Social Security, two Pensions Acts 2007-08; Minister of Energy and Climate Change, two Energy Acts 2008-09; Minister of State for Health, Health Reform Act 2009-10 .

Memberships

HM Privy Council.