Westcliff solicitor Paul Robinson is still fired with ambition for his practice - and for the Blues, as he tells RAY BRADLEY

If you want to get ahead in this world get a good lawyer. They may be expensive and effusive, but in the crunch, you get the expertise you pay for.

Paul Robinson is a handy man to have in your corner. He is a Southend solicitor who who knows his way round a shaky defence and a complicated legal system. Definitely, Premier League class.

An ardent football fan, he joined the board of Southend Football Club barely a year ago but his firm's skill in litigation has saved the struggling Roots Hall outfit a small fortune.

Old Smoothie Robinson is 51 but looks considerably younger. There are no disfiguring wrinkles or facial blemishes. Tall, cool and slim he radiates good health. Some guys have all the luck. He is probably a secret keep-fit freak.

Robinson's connections with Southend FC go back to schooldays when he cheered on the Blues from the terraces with his dad. "He was a staunch supporter and we rarely missed a home game," said Paul. "I still remember most of the team . . . Sandy Anderson, Lou Costello, Roy Hollis, Bud Houghton and Sam McCrory. They were all boyhood heroes.

"My sons, Sam, Ben and Tom are also Blues supporters and watch the team whenever possible. I was briefly a season ticket holder at Spurs but they never replaced Southend in my affections and when chairman John Main asked me to join the board I was delighted to accept his invitation.

"The club had a lot of financial problems, most of which were inherited. My partners and I were happy to help resolve several issues. There were compensation claims from two former managers that had to be settled plus litigation matters."

If Southend's internal problems have evaporated, on the field performances have not matched the club's ambitions.

"Our expectations this season were high but recent results have been very disappointing," concedes Paul. "We desperately need a good run to raise attendances and confidence again. We must get out of this division and tap the true potential of the club."

Paul and wife Gill attend most games - home and away - and he says roguishly: "Gill has become a keen fan and is not frightened to voice her opinion.

"She says that other teams appear to be physically bigger and stronger. We will have to work on that point."

Paul's firm operates from a three-storey former bank building in Westcliff. He built the business from scratch and and disputes the assertion that all lawyers are legal bandits preying on the ignorant.

"It's a fallacy," he assured me. "Like the old joke: What do you call fifty lawyers at the bottom of the ocean? A good start!

"Solicitors, unlike barristers, have high overheads and a low profit margin. The cost of running a practice is expensive. You have to employ experts in family law, company takeovers, civil and criminal law, probate, conveyancing and recently employment law.

"You have to keep top reference resources and maintain professional indemnity insurance which is not cheap but protects the firm and the customer. Nothing is cheap any more."

Paul gets his street cred from dad, Eric, who was an auctioneer on the fruit and produce exchange in Spitalfields. His ambitions were instilled into him by his mum, Kay, who steered him in the right direction early on.

He was an eager student, a high achiever at Westcliff High School and articled to a law firm at 17. He passed his Law Society exams with honours in 1970 and became a partner in Frank Todman's Wickford practice at 24. But he is not a man who settles for the comfort zone and he parted company with the Wickford firm in 1983.

"I felt it was time to stretch myself and go out on my own," he confesses. "I was quite happy to move back to the Southend area where I had a lot of friends and contacts. The competition was stiff but we were a young and energetic firm."

Robinson now has a flourishing practice with four partners and a staff of forty. He refuses to take more than collective credit for any success achieved and continues to work around 60 hours a week.

He adds: "We are expanding and need more office space, but the present premises are full of fond memories.

"The building was originally an old bank. When we were doing up the premises everyone mucked in, including family and friends.

Paul, a former Rayleigh Round Table chairman and Wickford Chamber of Trade president, has had to curtail many of his other activities but remains a governor of Westcliff High School.

Son Sam, a former pupil, now works alongside dad as an assistant solicitor and is getting all the necessary grounding in the business.

Relaxation for Dad is now restricted to the occasional round of golf and even that can be stressful. Paul just loves a challenge - in the boardroom or the bunker!

Family together - Solicitor Paul Robinson, director of Southend Football Club with his son Sam (right) who works in the law firm and is also a supporter of the Blues

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