Meeting Mr. Loophole

He courts controversy as the celebrity lawyer who secures acquittals for his famous clientele but at home in Knutsford life is far simpler for Nick Freeman.

- Angela Epstein

If Nick Freeman is troubled by being badged Britain’s most controversial lawyer then the solicitor known as Mr Loophole must be an awfully good actor too.

In fact, as he lounges on the sofa in the lake-view orangerie of his Knutsford home, Freeman presents as a man almost impossibly comfortable in his own skin.

Trim and lightly tanned, his loyal Staffie, George, either curled protectively at his feet or dozing on his lap, the 62-year-old father of two gives a sigh of contentment as he gazes out at the mere which winks and ripples beyond the garden of his elegant home.

‘I’m often asked why I haven’t moved to London,’ says Freeman, clearly still captivated by the waterside view. ‘After all, a great deal of my work takes me there, not least because of my so-called celebrity client base. But though I can drive up to 50,000 miles a year, with cases all over the country, I wouldn’t dream of moving my firm’s offices from Manchester or leaving my Cheshire home. There’s just no place like it here.

‘George and I spend hours walking in Tatton Park. I call it our little safari since we’re always finding new trails. And I love the quaint feel and warmth of Knutsford. You’d have to go a long way to beat this. I don’t need London. If London needs me, I’m happy to go. But only ever to visit. Never to stay.’

Yet a love of rural calm and Cheshire tranquillity hasn’t stopped Freeman making a big noise not only in the legal world but also, thanks to some of the views he fields, as a media commentator – more of which later.