‘Thank you, Bill. You were a giant’: Legal profession bids fond farewell to retiring Hull solicitor Bill Waddington
‘STOOD UP FOR THE DEFENDANT AGAINST THE MIGHT OF THE STATE’: Bill Waddington
By Simon Bristow
The legal profession in Hull has said the fondest of farewells to “legal legend” Bill Waddington, who is retiring after a stellar 42-year career as a defence solicitor in the city.
Members of the judiciary, the Criminal Bar, and colleagues joined family, friends and Mr Waddington’s wife Nikki at a packed Hull Crown Court, with more watching online from around the world, for a valedictory held in his honour on Thursday morning.
A similar event had taken place at Hull Magistrates’ Court, where Mr Waddington did most of his work, the previous day.
The valedictory was led by His Honour Judge John Thackray QC, Honorary Recorder of Hull and the East Riding, and Resident Judge Humberside.
Addressing barrister Dale Brook, representing the Bar, Judge Thackray began by saying: “We are gathered here today in this court, and remotely from around the world, to mark the retirement of the legal legend in Kingston upon Hull that is William Waddington, or as I prefer to call him, William Ogden Waddington. With initials that spell ‘Wow’, he perhaps was always destined for great things.
“He became a lawyer who was so loved and respected by his clients that not one but two past clients had Bill’s name tattooed on their person. However, for one of them, having the name Bill Waddington tattooed upon his neck did not bring him good fortune – I know that because I represented him for Bill and secured a sentence of life imprisonment – and of course it most certainly was not my fault.
“The second client, I am reliably told, had the words ‘Get Waddy’ tattooed on his person. As to that tattoo – opinions vary – some say it was the criminal advertising Bill as the best criminal lawyer in Hull, if not England and Wales. Others claim that his motivation was to get Bill and do him in because he’s useless. I’m quite sure, Mr Brook, it was the former and not the latter.”
Mr Waddington had initially wanted to be a farmer and enrolled at an agricultural college before returning to Hull to begin his legal career, which began in 1975 when he commenced his five-year Articles at Rollit, Farrell, and Bladon [now Rollits]. He successfully qualified in 1980.
Rollits was then a commercial practice, where Mr Waddington honed his wide range of legal skills.
The judge said: “Particular mention should be made of his Probate acumen, acquired in the administration of the Estate of G Deceased, a matter that had occupied the skills of several generations of trainees both before and after Bill.” Judge Thackray said the case “made Jarndyce v Jarndyce look like an emergency application”, in reference to the seemingly interminable fictional Probate case in the Dickens book Bleak House.
But Mr Waddington was never motivated by the prospective riches of a lawyer in commercial practice, the court heard. “His sense of social justice and his flair for advocacy – no doubt partially inherited from his mum Bobby, a very able actress – led him to seek out a career in Criminal advocacy,” the judge said.
Shortly after qualifying, Mr Waddington followed Bruce Wilkie to join a practice called Chambers, Thomas, and Williamson. Although the firm had a small criminal practice, within two to three years Mr Waddington had “almost single-handedly” built it into one of the main criminal practices in the city.
The partners decided to reward Mr Waddington for the resulting increase in fees; not with a financial bonus but by presenting him with a vintage clock that had stood on the mantelpiece for many years. “This kind gesture was somewhat watered down as the clock did not actually work,” Judge Thackray said.
In about 1984, another Hull firm, Gosschalk, Austen, and Wheldon [now Gosschalks] offered Mr Waddington and his department a home. But when the firm later decided to be a purely commercial practice, Mr Waddington moved his department and the criminal negligence department to Williamsons. He then “quickly established Williamsons as the largest and most successful criminal department in Hull”, the judge said.
He continued: “To say he was liked by his staff would be something of an understatement – one former member of staff told me that Bill was, and I quote, ‘The best boss I’ve ever had and the most generous’.”
Mr Waddington “quickly acquired a reputation for standing up for the defendant against the might of the state”, Judge Thackray said, and “did so with skill, determination, integrity and without exception commitment to the rules and principles applicable to defence lawyers”.
He also defended “all of the best cases”, the judge added, referring to some, including an inquest into the shooting of a man by police in London which triggered the London riots, and representing a bodyguard of Lady Diana, which led to an interview on CBS News. “I suspect there will not be many lawyers emanating from Hull who have appeared on a mainstream American television network,” Judge Thackray said.
As well as being a frequent “Tweeter”, Mr Waddington also helped raise tens of thousands of pounds for charity, and was a described as a “superb” after dinner speaker and a “raconteur of the highest order”.
The judge said, however: “Perhaps his greatest achievement is the unbelievable amount of work he gave to the Criminal Law Solicitors’ Association” (CLSA), an organisation he twice chaired, between 2012 and 2014, and from 2017 to 2019.
Mr Waddington was also responsible for the development of the careers of many solicitors, barristers, and judges, and was “always keen to spot, nurture, and help develop raw talent”.
He travelled the world in his spare time with friends.
Judge Thackray said Mr Waddington’s friendship was more important to him than their professional relationship, and thanked him for the support “he has always given me”.
He concluded by saying: “But Bill’s best friend must be his wife Nikki. They first got together almost 30 years ago – they still share the same wicked sense of humour and I know that Bill is looking forward to spending more time together during his well-earned retirement, no doubt along with his sister Vikki and his nieces.
“Mr Brook, Mr Waddington’s retirement is very much Mrs Waddington’s gain, albeit the loss of the profession and indeed the criminal justice system.”
Responding, Mr Brook said it was hard to think of anyone in the legal world more deserving of exceptional praise. “Words like giant and legend are often banded around cheaply, but in this case seem scarcely fitting enough for such a huge character in all our professional lives,” he said.
Mr Brook said most people would have been satisfied to have conquered Hull, but Mr Waddington had “set off to master the nation, and by goodness he achieved it”, in reference to his two stints as chair of the CLSA.
Picking up Judge Thackray’s remarks about how well travelled Mr Waddington was, Mr Brook provided some more detail about a trip to Mount Kilimanjaro, and noted that after making a great effort to get there, “Bill looked up at this large mountain, lit a cigarette, and decided the only sensible thing to do was give it a miss”. He returned to the luxury of the hotel while his friends “battled a mountain, altitude sickness, and some of the worst toilets in the world”, Mr Brook said.
He said Mr Waddington belonged to a “golden age” of local solicitors, and had been “one of the giants, huge characters, that enriched our courts”. But he said that “even in such distinguished company, Bill was at the top of the pile”.
Mr Brook then said he wanted to read a poem, and proceeded to recite a specially amended version of I Wanna Be Like You from The Jungle Book.
Mr Brook said:
“For he’s the king of the swingers
The jungle VIP
He’s reached the top but he didn’t stop
And that’s what’s botherin’ me
Oh, oobee doo
Bill, I wanna be like you
I wanna walk like you
And talk like you.”
Mr Brook said the verse had “seemed like a good idea at the time” as he moved swiftly on. He had been one of the barristers Mr Waddington had helped, giving him a “golden chance” in his career, he said.
He said to Mr Waddington: “On behalf of the Bar, I would like to give you our heartfelt thanks and wish you the very best for your retirement.”
Mr Waddington, who was seated next to Mr Brook, then rose to say a few words of his own, But he was so moved by what he had heard he had to pause for a moment to compose himself.
Addressing Judge Thackray, he said: “Your honour, it would be something of an understatement to say I’m deeply humbled and touched by everything that’s been said. Just give me a moment, please.”
He continued: “A lot of it, I think, undeserving, but I would like to thank you, your honour, and Mr Brook, very much indeed for those exceptionally kind words.”
Mr Waddington said what he was most grateful for was that the tributes to him had been made as a valediction, “rather than waiting until it becomes a eulogy”. But he assured the court that should that happen, he would be “here in one form or another when that day comes, and I will be listening intently to make sure none of what’s been said has changed in any way”.
Mr Waddington, 67, told the court he had left school aged 16 and “hadn’t the faintest idea of what I was going to do”. That school was Hymers College, and he said he was “not going to do a Liz Truss by suggesting that was a large comprehensive”.
He revealed that he had performed poorly in some subjects, achieving a mark of 27 per cent in his mock chemistry exam, and just two per cent in mock physics. Those results prompted a teacher in his end of year report to write that, “in physics and chemistry he is now completely lost”. The headteacher went further, Mr Waddington recalled, and “underlined in red the word ‘completely’.”
After realising farming was not for him, Mr Waddington said he took an OND Business Studies course, in which one of the subjects was law. “And I think for the first time in my life I came across a subject that I actually found interesting,” he said. “That was my eureka moment.”
Mr Waddington spoke about his career in the magistrates’ courts, where he said it was “impossible” to get a Not Guilty verdict in the 1980s.
He said he had “absolutely no idea where the 42 years have gone”, adding: “All those years ago I used to look at a magistrate and think ‘You’re far too old to be sitting there in judgement on a client’. Now, I’m sure they look at me and think ‘You’re far too old to represent them’.”
He said: “So many happy memories, so many good friendships, so many good laughs, and those three things far outweigh the downside of the job.”
Thanking Judge Thackray again, Mr Waddington described his career as “an absolute ball”, and said: “I’m so pleased so many people are here today”.