Earlier this week I was shocked to learn that Simon Mullings, a prominent and much-loved member of the legal aid community, had died. To be honest, I still can't get my head round the fact he's no longer with us. The news hit me hard, so I can't even begin to imagine what his family, friends and colleagues are going through right now.
We journalists tend to talk about having 'contacts'. But Simon felt like more than my contact, he felt like my friend. I don't know when that transition happened but looking back at our emails, I'm crying with laughter at some of our exchanges. I feel like the transition began with this exchange, when he agreed to appear in our 'Lawyer in the News' section:
Me: 'I need a souper douper photo of you.'
Simon: 'A souper douper photo of me would take more plastic surgery and grooming products than exists in the world.'
Me: 'As if! Your beard always looks perfectly groomed!'
Whenever I needed help with a potential legal aid story, Simon always went above and beyond, whether it be a quote at super-short notice or talking me through important details to aid the piece I wanted to write. I know how busy he always was, so to take the time out to help me... I hope he knew how grateful I was.
The last time I saw Simon was at the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Awards in July. As soon as I spotted him I walked over. He got up from his chair and gave me a big hug. I now cherish that moment so much.
But I don't want to leave this piece on a sad note.
According to my inbox, my first email from Simon was in June 2019. On my birthday, in fact (I'm sure I've known him longer but if that was the date of the first email... best birthday present ever!). The Justice Alliance was producing a collection of 70 legal aid cases that developed, changed or contributed to the law, to mark 70 years since Royal assent was given to the Legal Aid and Advice Act 1949. In his email, Simon confirmed the case that I had chosen for the collection was indeed a legal aid one.
That collection? It's called Legal Aid Matters. In his Lawyer in the News feature, he cited the launch of the collection in parliament as his 'career high'.
Legal Aid Matters is available as an ebook on Legal Action Group's website. Simon wanted people to understand why legal aid was so important and I'd like to think he'd be super-chuffed to see the booklet mentioned five years on.
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