CLIVE COLEMAN
Clive Coleman was called to the Bar in 1986. His practice has covered both criminal (defence and CPS) and civil law (medical negligence, property and insolvency). His career started in spectacular fashion, when he managed to get his first client off with a mere six month prison sentence. That was for a parking offence...though, to be fair, he had just parked on top of his social worker!
From 1990-99 Clive was a Senior and then Principal Lecturer in Law on the Bar Vocational Course at the Inns of Court School of Law, where he helped to pioneer skills training for barristers. He has lectured and written on a wide range of legal subjects, including : contract, evidence, civil litigation, negotiation, advocacy, communication and the art of persuasion.
During this period, Clive started to develop his writing career. In 1992, he won the prestigious BBC Radio Light Entertainment Contract Writers Award (previous winners include Angus Deayton and Rory McGrath). Clive regularly contributed to ‘Weekending’, ‘The News Huddlines’ and wrote the sit-com ‘Hair In The Gate’, starring Allistair McGowan.
Clive’s television comedy work includes: ‘Spitting Image’, ‘Smith and Jones’, ‘Clive Anderson Talks Back’ and ‘Dead Ringers’, though he is perhaps best known for ’Chambers’ his hit Radio 4 and then BBC1 sit-com about barristers, starring John Bird, James Fleet and Sarah Lancashire.
In 1998 Clive won the BBC’s inaugural ‘Frank Muir Award’, for outstanding comedy writing. He is currently working with Tiger Aspect Productions and the BBC on a comedy drama film ‘High Table’, starring Dawn French to be shown on BBC1 at Christmas 2005.
Clive’s television drama work includes: ‘The Bill’ (for whom he has also acted as legal consultant on court based storylines), ‘Heartbeat’ and ‘Crossroads’.
In between writing for television and radio Clive also writes columns on ‘The Times’ comment pages, and for ‘The Independent’.
Presenter and Performer
Clive is the presenter of the BBC Radio Four flagship legal analysis programme, ‘Law In Action’. He has performed character-based sketches for Channel 5’s ‘Exclusive’ show. For the past ten years, he has regularly performed on radio with credits including co-writing and performing in Radio 4’s ‘Control Group 6’ (nominated for the 1996 Writer’s Guild Award for Best Radio Comedy), Radio Five Live’s ‘The Game’s Up’, with
Alistair McGowan; and ‘You Cannot Be Serious’, with Kevin Day. Other regular guest appearances include Radio 4’s ’The Motion Show’, ‘Quote Unquote’ and ‘Loose Ends’.