SLN Spotlight: Toni Ashby

This week’s SLN Spotlight falls on Toni Ashby, a partner at Clyde & Co. She is a specialist in defending latent disease claims and acts primarily for the major insurers. She is qualified in both English and Scots law.

What has been your best experience as a lawyer?

Defending a Court of Session jury trial and obtaining a unanimous verdict in my clients’ favour. Normally you have to wait months for judgments but the anticipation of the “live” jury verdict and then the verdict going in our favour was a real thrill!

What has been your worst experience as a lawyer?

Having to ditch a proof mid-way through when it became apparent that my client was a liar. I’ll never live that one down as the defender in that case is now one of my clients….

Why did you choose the law?

My cousin worked for Thompsons in Newcastle when I was at school and used to tell me tales of wierd personal injury claims. I was encouraged into law by my guidance teacher but I wanted to leave school when I was 16, and have a gap year, but there wasn’t a chance my Dad would allow that unless I had a full time job and was going to pay my own way. Luckily my cousin was able to get me a job in Thompsons’ Edinburgh mail room and I never looked back from there. It was especially lucky I found Thompsons and litigation because I found all of the other aspects of law extremely dull, so if I hadn’t got a foot in there I’m not sure I would have pursued law as a career once I’d finished my degree.

Who or what has been the greatest professional influence in your life?

My bosses, who have always, strangely, been called David. I have always worked for good lawyers with good business sense.

I also love reading Richard Susskind as it is so refreshing to hear a lawyer talk about change and modernising for the future. Many lawyers are resistant to change, a lot of the time because it is in their financial interests to stay the same, and I find that frustrating and short sighted.

What advice would you give to anyone considering a career in the law?

Prepare for a hard slog. I do not envy young lawyers these days. It will be very tough to get to the top in the future. When I came out of uni jobs were ten a penny. Associates secured partnerships in their 20s and early 30s. That is not the case any more, and it’s not going to get any easier. Legal firms and their ways of working are going through fundamental change at the moment and in my view it will be innovators, not just good lawyers, who succeed in the future.

What would you want to be if you were not a lawyer?

A professional snowboarder. Or anything which involved being out and about. The most frustrating part of my job is spending so much time sitting at a desk.

How do you relax after work?

Cycling, swimming or in the gym with my boys who are 14 and 12. Also drinking nice wine….

What is your favourite holiday destination and why?

I have an apartment in the French Alps and it’s the best place in the world to relax and be active away from the office. My family and I visit there regularly for snowboarding and mountain biking and it keeps me sane.