Vidocq presents… Paul Cutler!

Paul Cutler is an Australian barrister. He is admitted to practise at the New South Wales Bar. He has a commercial practise with specialties in corporate insolvency and bankruptcy.

Apart from the challenges of professional practice, Paul enjoys tennis, swimming, and playing the violin. He also likes to blog about topical (and sometimes amusing) legal matters both from Australia and overseas.

You can follow Paul on Twitter under the account name @PCutler.

For DCC, he answered these seven questions:

1: What is your most favourite part of the day?

About the only time I get to relax is in the evening. So by around 10pm (after the kids have gone to bed) I can relax and watch the late TV news or have a cup of tea and just generally put my feet up.

2: What is the worst kind of person you ever sat next to on a flight?

I can put up with most things most of the time, but people who have poor personal hygiene or people who need to go to the toilet every 30 minutes are very annoying.

3: Your worst vacation experience?

We stayed in a Ryokan, Tokyo for a couple of days. While I remember it as an adventure, my wife, to this day, still complains about the shared (smelly) toilets, the shower which had warm water, no pressure, and wasn’t very clean. Then there was the owner – her only English phrases were “no shoes” and “pay now”. It was Japanese Fawlty Towers.

4: Which trial/case still haunts you till today?

My client and the defendant had been family friends. He ended up suing her for money owing under a lease. She said they were in partnership. A turning point at the trial was when the friend’s (now former) husband broke down in tears while giving his testimony. From that minute onwards, the Judge believed everything that was said on behalf of the friend and my client lost his case. I still think the decision was wrong.

5: If you have a blog, how did you get started? Who or what inspired you to blog?

I have two blogs. My Australian Migration Blog started as I needed somewhere to put news about recent developments. A Barrister’s Blog is a reflection of my sense of legal humour.

6: Did you end up in the profession of your childhood dreams?

No – I wanted to be a scientist and I actually became one, practicing as an industrial chemist for 10 years before studying law. My interest was sparked by being a witness in a case for an employer. I really enjoy being a barrister.

7: Tell us about your most embarrassing experiences in a restaurant, opening a bottle of wine, or do-it-yourself projects. Pick one and tell all!

When I was a student (in the early 1980’s), I wanted to learn how to service and tune my car. I was a very bad amateur mechanic and my worst experience was installing incorrectly an oil pump and making it to a real garage only to see pools of my car’s oil all over the floor. Never again.