End of an era for legal eagle

Despite helping transform a one-man band legal practice into one of the most successful outfits in Sussex, it is hard to find anyone with a bad word to say about him.

Mr Dean, who has just retired at the age of 70, comes from a long-established Sussex family but, as a youngster, spent some time in the North-East because his father got a job with ICI in Billingham, County Durham, when times were hard in the Thirties.

Moving south, he went to work for Brighton solicitor Richard Crowther before seeing an advertisement in The Argus for a job as assistant solicitor to William Weeks, one of the best known lawyers in town.

J Lord Thompson and Weeks was established in rickety premises in Pavilion Buildings right next to the historic palace itself.

Mr Weeks was by this time in practice on his own and was already elderly - although he continued to keep an interest in the firm until well into his nineties.

Mr Dean said the job was described to him as the best in town but he had doubts after hearing of a predecessor who had left abruptly.

But he got on well with the old man and solicitor, Laurence Legg, with whom he shared an office.

The two of them worked together on one of the biggest projects the town had ever seen, the building of the Brighton Marina. It was a legal minefield.

Mr Legg handled many of the early complexities such as town polls and Acts of Parliament but it was Mr Dean who played a large part in the huge public inquiry into the development in the Seventies.

The result of that inquiry, one of the longest ever held in Britain, was to give the go-ahead to development at the Marina after years of stalemate.

Mr Dean remembers with some affection Brighton garage owner Henry Cohen, who had the original idea for the scheme and who lived to see it become a reality, He said: "Henry Cohen showed what you could achieve with a lot of determination."

When Mr Weeks retired officially, Mr Dean combined his practice with that of Laurie Legg creating Weeks, Legg and Dean.

He later took on David Barling, a young solicitor from Gates and Co, who became the youngest-ever mayor of Hove before retiring from politics to concentrate on his legal career.

The firm faced a crisis when asked by Brighton Council, its landlords, to move from the comfortable but crumbling headquarters in Pavilion Buildings notable for hissing gas fires, cooing pigeons and fine views.

But the move it made to nearby Church Street proved a blessing.

It took over the former Canhams building, which had been modernised after being a confectionery and tobacco wholesalers, and was able to operate much more efficiently.

The firm merged with Chapman and Wilson to become Dean Wilson and two years ago changed its name once again to become Dean Wilson Laing after combining with well known Brighton lawyer David Laing.

Today, the former one-man band of Bill Weeks has six partners and three consultants. While other practices have declined or gone to the wall, it is thriving.

Mr Dean said: "All I have ever wanted to do is to do my job properly and I have found this means you are never short of work."

Mr Dean's abiding interest in new technology has helped the company cope. He introduced IT equipment into the firm 30 years ago to cope with a huge project.

A property company which owned more than 50 blocks of flats wanted to produce individual leases for them.

Mr Dean said: "I had to decide whether to take on more staff or go for new technology."

He bought equipment that would now seem primitive, connected it to an electric typewriter, and called it Fred. This provided a basic template for the leases which could be varied as necessary.

Mr Dean continued with Fred for several years but later progressed to more sophisticated and reliable computer equipment which is in use today.

It is one of the main reason why Dean Wilson Laing does not employ many more people than the old firm did in Pavilion Buildings.

But most of those staff and partners have stayed with the firm for many years. They include Ian Wilson, now a Recorder in addition to being a solicitor.

He said: "Dudley Dean has been an inspirational partner. He has shown great skill and created a good atmosphere."

Mr Dean said there had been changes in the legal profession in his 47 years as a solicitor. Most people now worked much harder.

At one time you could not ring a solicitor of note before 10am or during what would often be a long lunch. Today's lawyers spent most of a long working week at their desks.

But he refutes criticism of lawyers for being grasping and immoral, saying this applies only to a tiny minority.

Most, he says, are conscientious and show great probity. He hopes they will continue to show more interest in people than in money.

Mr Dean has plenty to keep him busy in retirement.

He is still a consultant and will work one day a week.

With his wife, he has moved from a large family home in Chailey to a smaller home at Maresfield which still has two acres of land. He has six children and eight grandchildren.

He has a passion for opera and visits Glyndebourne several times a year. He also sings in more than one choir.

Looking much younger than his 70 years, Mr Dean has never sought kudos from his profession.

Unlike David Laing and David Barling, who both became councillors, he has not become a party political animal. Nor has he ever sought to be a senior partner, saying: "Dean Wilson Laing is a democracy."

Only occasionally does Mr Dean show a hint of steel that lies behind his affable and almost cuddly facade.

One such instance was when Barclays Bank tried unsuccessfully to sue him. The case took years to settle and involved a large sum of money.

It must have been a worrying time and tempting to cave in before one of Britain's biggest banks. But Mr Dean never faltered because he believed he could prove he was right.

Barclays may not have been the first people to sign his retirement card. But most people in the legal profession and his many clients will more than accept his modest assessment that he has left the firm "friendly and in pretty good shape."