Described as "one of the most effective jury advocates of his generation", he was involved in many high-profile criminal trials as well as public inquiries.
He gained a first-class honours degree at the University of Leeds, where he was also president of the university's union.
Called to the bar in 1953, he was made a Queen's Counsel in 1971.
Among his most famous cases were the defence of Donald Neilson, the appeal of John Poulson, the Spycatcher case, the Matrix Churchill trial, and the Brink's-Mat robbery trial.
He also represented Don Revie in his case against the Football Association and the public inquiry into the sinking of the Herald of Free Enterprise.