Clive is the BBC's Legal Correspondent, a role he arrived at via a career as a barrister, Principal Lecturer in Law, and then one of the country's leading comedy writers.
Clive covers a broad range of domestic and international legal stories and issues, from Brexit to his personal exploits as a barrister. He works across television and radio news, appearing regularly on the Today programme, Five Live, Breakfast, The News Channel and BBC news bulletins. For six years from 2004 "2010 he presented the BBC's flagship legal analysis programme 'Law In Action' on Radio 4, a role for which, in 2009, he won the Bar Council's Legal Broadcasting Award. Clive has presented many other television and radio programmes for the BBC including Panorama (BBC1), Profile(R4), Pick of the Week (R4), The Cases That Changed Our World (R4). He has also been a columnist on legal issues on 'The Times' comment pages and written for 'The Guardian'and 'The Independent'.
Clive began his career as a barrister in 1986 at the chambers of Robin Stewart QC at 2 Harcourt Buildings, Temple. Working in both crime and civil law, for prosecution and defence, 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! So, it's perhaps not surprising that he saw the funny side of life in court and wanted to write about it. His television credits include: 'Dead Ringers','Spitting Image', 'Smith and Jones', and 'Chambers' his hit BBC1 sit-com about barristers, starring John Bird, James Fleet and Sarah Lancashire. He has also written a huge amount of comedy for Radio with credits including, 'Weekending', 'The News Huddlines' and his sit-com 'Spending My Inheritance', starring Kris Marshall. Clive also wrote television drama on the ITV series 'The Bill' (for whom he has also acted as a legal consultant on court based storylines).
As a speaker on Brexit, he covers topics such as 'Can the Law Stop Brexit', 'How the UK Could Rid Itself of EU Law', and 'How Much UK Law is EU Law'.
In 1992, he won the prestigious BBC Radio Light Entertainment Contract Writers Award. In 1998 he won the BBC's inaugural 'Frank Muir Award', for outstanding comedy writing.
Clive has delivered keynote and after dinner speeches to a broad range of UK based and multi-national companies, trade and professional bodies. As a conference chair, he has hosted numerous conferences and awards ceremonies where his combination of analytical, broadcasting and writing skills have enabled him to write and deliver talks, links and chair debates which ensure that the focus is always sharp, intelligent and witty.
"Your speech was one of the most stimulating and humorous that we have ever heard. It was one of the highlights of the evening. You managed very early on to grab the audience's attention and relayed anecdotes to which many could relate. Your 'Adopt a Lawyer for Christmas' was a brilliant spoof. Thank you Clive for helping to make Gadsby Wicks 10th Anniversary Celebration such a success. Our families and guests enjoyed your company tremendously." Partners of Gadsby Wicks Solicitors.
"Thank you for your contribution to an extremely successful conference. It's no exaggeration to say you 'made the difference'. Your professional links, combined with razor sharp humour, kept the pace up and the tone light, without flippancy. We achieved our objectives when staff left the event feeling positive about the company and geared up for the year ahead. Indeed, you were nominated 'the best thing about the conference' on the majority of the event evaluation forms, and so I greatly look forward to working with you again in the future." Business Improvement Manager, Training Services, QA Plc.
"It is unusual to re-book a speaker, people tend to want a change. Clive is an exception. We've been entertained by him on a number of occasions, each time he has been different, very funny and written fresh material about our company, current projects and personnel. We will be seeing him again." Programme Manager, Cable & Wireless
"The audience comprised the whole company (and their partners) - from the most senior managers to the newest junior members of staff. Clive succeeded in entertaining everybody. His humour was pitched exactly right; cleverly 'teasing' individuals without giving a hint of offence, and relating very amusing stories without the need to swear or be lewd (as some speakers feel obliged to do). And Clive achieved all this with just 24 hours notice!" Head of Customer Service, PPP.