Michael Cassidy has 35 years of practising law in the City of London. At the forefront of the first half of that period was his role in establishing and advising the Post Office Pension Fund (later split from the BT Fund and jointly managed by Hermes Investment Management). That Fund has always ranked as one of the largest in the UK and its investment profile often involved some of the most far-seeing among the institutions. Michael undertook the tax-planning and legal structuring of all of their world-wide property investments, mostly in the US and Europe but also Australia and Japan. He undertook one of the largest property company take-overs of its period, English & Continental, from the Crown Agents. A number of corporate and property transactions were undertaken at this time with Sir James Goldsmith. It was also the early period of shareholder activism with badly run public companies and Michael advised on these interventions.

Later focus moved to pure property development within the UK, mostly the forward-purchase of development projects, the most recent large project on which Michael acted was Land Securities 30 Gresham Street building pre-let to Dresdner Kleinwort Benson. This involved site acquisition, planning, road closure, rights of light disputes and achieving vacant possession.

In parallel with his legal career, Michael has been involved at senior level in the local government of the City of London, for which he received the CBE in 2004. He was Planning Chairman in the late 1990's just after Margaret Thatcher had opened up financial markets here - his period saw a third of the City being reconstructed. He then Chaired the Policy & Resources Committee, embracing the wider needs of surrounding boroughs and thereby securing a favourable outcome with the arrival of New Labour in government; and, inter alia, introducing the Ring of Steel alongside the City Police in 1993 following the Bishopsgate bomb.

Later he Chaired the Barbican Arts Centre for 3 years, moving on to do the same at the Museum of London. He is President of the London Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

The past year has seen a spate of activity on AIM-listed companies, mostly involving overseas property - Italy, Bulgaria and India. His principal Board-level involvement however has been with British Land plc (10 years service) and UBS Ltd (6 years).

• Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales