Even as a small boy Saul Froomkin knew he would become a criminal lawyer.It was the late 1940s and no one in his family had ever been to high school, never mind university.There were no TV shows or Blockbuster movies glamourising the profession at that time, but the youngster set about his career path with quiet determination.“I remember looking at my grade seven year book and it said ‘ambition: to become a criminal lawyer’. I must have been 12 years old then, so it was just there in my mind for some reason.”Mr Froomkin celebrated the 50th anniversary of his call to the Bar last Tuesday. He took time out of his schedule to speak with The Royal Gazette about his long-standing career, his biggest professional triumphs and one or two regrets.“I’m surprised I lasted this long. There aren’t many who are in active practice for 50 years, and I’m still actively engaged in the practice of law.”The prominent lawyer, who represented one of the five defendants in the stabbing death of Kellon Hill, got both his law and master’s degrees from the University of Manitoba.The 75-year-old has been admitted to the bar in parts of Canada, Europe and the Caribbean and serves as a Queen’s Counsel (QC) in both Bermuda and Manitoba.In 1998, he was made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) by the Queen. And just recently, he was honoured by the Taiwan government for his “outstanding achievements” in promoting international cooperation on combating transnational crime.Mr Froomkin admits the law has been a way of life for him. “If it wasn’t I couldn’t have lasted this long,” he said. “It’s something you either take on as a job or you take on as a way of life.”In his early legal career he worked around 12 hours a day, seven days a week. Even today, as a partner in the law firm Mello, Jones and Martin, he is known to put in 14 or 15 hours a day sometimes.“I do it because if you are acting for someone you have to give them the best of yourself and you have got to ensure you have the facts and the law at your fingertips, and it’s time consuming if you are going to do it right.”He believes that good legal representation is critical. Just like if someone has a serious medical condition they will seek out the best help they can afford, the same is true with law.“Unfortunately not everyone can afford good representation,” he said.Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Mr Froomkin decided to move to Bermuda in 1977 after learning about the fishing on the Island. He saw an advertisement in the Globe and Mail newspaper for a Crown prosecutor and said to his wife, Donna: “Would you like to go and live in Bermuda?”Instead of working as a prosecutor for which he was told he was “over-qualified” he landed a job as Solicitor General.He planned to only stay on the Island for a couple of years.One of his biggest personal regrets is not being able to spend more quality time with his wife, and son Joel, particularly in his early career.Another regret is that he never made it to ‘the bench’. “I think I would have liked to be a judge, whether I would have been a good one or not is something else, but certainly I would have liked to have done it.“I love the law and I think that with my background and interest in the law from an academic standpoint and love of people generally I could have done a reasonably credible job.”Reflecting back on his career, he said one of his toughest cases involved a friend who was a member of the police force.The officer had received the swine vaccine injection and subsequently contracted a disease called Guillain-Barre syndrome. He sued the Government, believing it was the vaccine that caused the disease.But eventually the court found it wasn’t the swine vaccine used in Bermuda that caused it. It ruled the problem was caused in the US as a result of a different vaccine.Mr Froomkin said it was a long, difficult and factually complex case.“It was also sad because the plaintiff was someone I liked very much and respected and here I was on the other side.”While the legal system has changed since he first arrived on the Island, Mr Froomkin said there was still some room for improvement.The Island’s size makes it very difficult to find jurors who have no relation to defendants. He believes judge-only trials, which were used in the 1950s with the consent of the defendant, may be one answer to this.Legal aid is also an area that could use some “serious funding”, he said.“Many of the young lawyers doing legal aid are being grossly underpaid and as a result you get fewer and fewer that are prepared to do it, because it doesn’t make sense economically.”Mr Froomkin said regardless of the outcome of a case, it’s important to do “a first-class job” and do everything you legitimately can for your client.He’s most proud of the fact he remains “reasonably well respected here and abroad”.But he said the legacy he hopes to leave behind in Bermuda is his competency and integrity. “That is all you can ask for,” he added.