 He was educated at the Dragon School, Charterhouse School, University College, Oxford, where he graduated MA, and Trinity Hall, Cambridge, taking a LLB degree in international law.While at Oxford, he played hockey for the university and for England.He was called to the bar from the Inner Temple in 1972, was appointed a Queen's Counsel (QC) in 1991, and was elected a bencher of the Inner Temple in 1995.