It didn’t take too much convincing to bring Mike Devlin out of retirement.
For the past four decades, family lawyer Devlin has been representing the interests of children in care proceedings in often complex legal cases.
He decided to take retirement at the age of 65 from his role as head of the family department at north west-based Stephensons Solicitors, where he spent more than 20 years of his career.
Only three months into his restful break last April, Devlin was offered an opportunity to dust off his briefcase and join fast-growing Manchester firm, Hall Brown.
“I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of my career to the point I would have done my job without being paid,” said Devlin.
“I didn’t feel like after 40 years in law that there wasn’t anything I wished I hadn’t done so I decided to hand over the baton at Stephensons and have a rest.
“I didn’t have any plans but I wanted to know how it was to feel like being retired and that’s what I did and it was great.
“But I got approached by Sam Hall and James Brown and they asked me what I thought about joining them.
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“They offered the freedom to do as much or as little as I wanted with no managerial responsibilities.
“This was an opportunity to represent clients to the degree that I wanted to and keep my brain occupied while also working with a young but growing dynamic firm.
“With the support of my family it felt like the right decision to go back into work.”
He added: “Just last week I was sat in a case where I was up against a high powered London QC in a four-day contested hearing and I was in my element!”
It’s this dedication and passion for working for the rights of children and their families that saw Devlin handed the coveted lifetime achievement award at the Manchester Legal Awards last month.
The award recognised Devlin’s services to the legal profession.
In a nod to the city’s former legal personalities, he said: “As a young man starting out in a career in law I looked up to people like Rodger Pannone, Michael Blackburn, Peter Lakin and Elliott Knopf, who were all subsequently appointed as circuit judges. They were giants of the city’s legal profession and I looked to them and thought ‘gosh how wonderful it is to be in that position’ never thinking that I might follow in their footsteps.
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“And so to receive such acclaim from Manchester’s legal community is amazing, it’s humbling and something to make you feel proud of at the same time.”
Devlin, who was born in Liverpool, completed a degree in economics, law and industrial relations at Cardiff University in the Seventies.
He came to Manchester in 1979 and joined Deansgate-based Goldberg Blackburn (now Pannone) as an article clerk, qualifying as a solicitor in 1981.
It was a great opportunity for a young Devlin to work in criminal litigation for an ambitious practice with a huge client roster.
But after 12 months, Devlin decided to join Flint & Holmes. It was a smaller practice in Salford and had lost the head of its criminal department who had set up shop across the road.
“They wanted someone to come in and protect their criminal practice department,” recalls Devlin.
“That first year in Salford bought out a competitive spirit in me that there’s no way the competition was going to take away our clients. I managed to maintain the practice soon becoming an equity partner at the firm.”
Devlin remembers those early years fondly.
“It was so different back then. Everyone smoked with ashtrays overflowing, everyone went to the pub on Fridays.
“During Christmas parties, everyone was invited including the police, the court staff, and on one occasion my secretary invited one of our criminal clients much to the dismay of our colleagues. Once a year we even took a day trip to either Blackpool or Llandudno and caused utter mayhem.
“We were based in a socially deprived community and I enjoyed representing local people even when our office was broken into on a regular basis.
“I was called into the office by the cleaner once after yet another
break-in. This time the burglar was
still in the office crouching under a desk.
“Another time I was called to the station to see a client who wanted me to represent him on a charge of burglary - he had broken into my office the night before!
“That’s what it was like back then, it was hard work but we had lots of fun.”
During the Eighties Devlin’s career took a different turn when he started representing families whose children had been removed by the local authorities.
There weren’t many lawyers specialising in this field and as a local law firm, many families were turning to Devlin for help.
“It wasn’t easy for people to get advice,” said Devlin.
“I remember seeing clients who were in a terrible state because their children had been removed and they didn’t know where to go and what to do.
“Over a fairly short period of time, I began to get more and more of those clients.
“In 1984 a scheme was introduced called the guardian ad litem - now known as children’s guardians. They were social workers who were appointed to act on behalf of children in care proceedings.
“Each local authority had its own guardian panel and gradually I was instructed by all of them.
“My working week saw me representing clients all across Greater Manchester and eventually we had that much work I had to bring in another partner to take over the criminal department as I got more involved in the children’s work.”
Over the course of the Eighties, there were various child protection scandals with a number of children who were neglected, abused or died as a result of being in local authority care or other agencies.
That brought about the introduction of the Children Services Act 1989.
It meant there was a huge demand for lawyers like Devlin, of which there were only a handful in Manchester.
One particular case that Devlin remembers well, and which he won, involved a baby girl who was born with down syndrome and suffered with tracheostomy.
She who was put into foster care in Salford by her orthodox Jewish parents who could not cope with looking after her.
The baby was placed with a catholic couple who had seven daughters of their own.
The biological parents decided that they couldn’t have her back and wanted her adopted into another orthodox Jewish family.
Eighteen months after being placed into foster care, an adoptive family was found, but by that time, the foster family wanted to keep her.
Said Devlin: “The foster family took care of her from a baby and she became part of their family that they couldn’t imagine letting her go.
“They came to see me and explained the situation but time wasn’t on their side as the girl’s biological parents and the local authority were meeting that very afternoon to take matters forward.
“So I said ‘I better get my skates on’ and went to see a district judge at the high court that day.
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“District Judge Freeman was free and agreed to see me. I briefly explained the situation and asked if the child could be made a ward of court. That was granted and the biological family was unable to proceed with the adoption.
“That case then went on for five more years. The parents were represented by Ernest Ryder, who later became a Lord Justice of Appeal, and several other well known lawyers and QCs.
“I stayed with the case all the way through. In the end, a judge declared the bond between the child and this couple was so strong that it couldn’t be broken and there was no way you could explain to that child why she was being moved.
“What this case brought home to me, and what has driven me in all the work I have done as a solicitor, is how important family is and how important our children are.
“All parents think nothing is more important than their own child - even those people who neglect or abuse their children.
“I have never met anybody who has ever said I did that on purpose, even when they are caught red-handed.
“Children are the most important things in our lives.
“So when I get asked why I left Goldberg Blackburn to work in a firm in Salford, it’s because I was looking for something that I was going to be passionate about and was going to fulfil me in my career, and partly by accident I discovered what that was, and I was very lucky to have found it.
“I allowed that to be my guiding light, and when you are doing something that you are passionate about and you love, it’s not really work, it’s not hard.”
In 1998, Flint & Holmes merged with Stephensons Solicitors where Devlin went on lead the family department, which he helped to grow to one of the largest in the 海角视频.
At the same time Devlin also gave lectures and he became involved with the safeguarding commission for the Salford Diocese - all while raising four children. He said: “I always made time to go home for dinner every night and if I had work to do I would do it after the children went to bed.”
In 2012, Devlin won the award for legal aid lawyer of the year at the Manchester Legal Awards and soon after became involved with the Manchester Law Society.
“I’d never been involved with the society before but I met with its CEO Fran Eccles-Bech for the first time and I couldn’t say no,” he laughs.
After joining the council he was later elected president and started a scheme to open up the law society to more in-house lawyers. He also launched an initiative to make the profession accessible to all.
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“I wanted to create a hub where MLS can be the focal point for firms who can provide opportunities to young people and on the other hand to inspire young people from different social-economic backgrounds to think about a career in law.
“People have a huge amount to offer this city and I really wanted to see the legal sector get behind this.
“One thing I don’t like is waste and there’s nothing more upsetting than seeing talent go to waste.
“The city is thriving and there is a demand for new talent and here is a real opportunity to do something about it.”