A group of lawyers will trade blows in a boxing ring as part of a major fundraiser taking place in Birmingham.
Ten barristers from No5 Chambers will take on 10 other professionals from the city in the Ralph Lewis QC Memorial Cup.
The event, which takes place on July 8, will raise money for Marie Curie Cancer Care nurses who cared for Mr Lewis – former head of chambers at No5 – last year.
The lawyers will slug it out in 10 bouts, each consisting of three rounds lasting two minutes, with the boxer scoring the most points awarded the cup.
Among those agreeing to trade their sharp suits for shorts and boxing gloves is No5 barrister Michael Duck, who described himself as the “old man of the team” at the age of 46.
He said: “I have probably been training for about three days a week on average and it has made an incredible difference.
“You would be a fool if you said you weren’t nervous. I’m certainly not looking forward to getting hit!”
Mr Duck said his two teenage daughters were refusing to watch their father in action.
The black tie charity event, to be held at The Burlington Hotel in New Street, was originally dreamed up by Brian Dean, a barrister at No5, and practice director Tony McDaid.
The No5 Group has been training at Fighting Fit City Gym in Lionel Street and will take on a group including fellow lawyers Kim Andrew from Irwin Mitchell and Andrew Evans from HBJ Gateley Wareing.
Mr Dean said: “In his final weeks Ralph Lewis was looked after and cared for by Marie Curie nurses so we decided – myself and Tony McDaid – that we ought to do something to raise funds for them.
“Over the years I have done some white collar boxing and I thought why don’t we organise an event and see if we can raise some money, and get the legal community involved?
“We thought that firstly we didn’t know if we would get enough interest because it is a big ask and secondly if we did, once they start to get hit on the nose they might well give up.
“We were really surprised at the number of people who signed up and now we have 10 barristers lining up, including one woman – Victoria Clifford.”
He added: “However funny it might seem at the start it starts to become serious business, especially now they know who they are fighting – and we have more than 300 people coming to the event.”
The compère for this knockout evening will be well-known sports presenter Gary Newbon, who will commentate on the boxing bouts and chair the charity auction.
The main sponsor of the event is Wesleyan for Lawyers.
Former head of No5 Chambers, Ralph Lewis QC, was a promising boxer while at Oxford University and it remained one of his twin sporting loves, the other being Welsh Rugby.
