Cavan Taylor obituary: Senior City lawyer behind merger

Times

20 hours ago

Cavan Taylor was one of the big names who shaped the legal landscape that emerged during Margaret Thatcher's 'Big Bang' of City deregulation, helping to create one of the UK's first 'mega' law firms. Soon after the arrival of Clifford Chance in 1987 as the world's first global law firm, Taylor was key to the next big merger, in 1988 — that of Durrant Piesse with Lovell, White & King. He later became senior partner in the new merged practice of Lovell White Durrant. It was seen as a strategic masterstroke, and the firm, which today is known as Hogan Lovells, became the UK's second largest. The move was due in large part to Taylor's powers of persuasion, making him a natural leader as well as a fine lawyer.
He was also skilled in dealing with clients. Andrew Walker, his successor as senior partner at Lovell White Durrant (Lovells) said he had an 'outstanding ability to engage with people and impress them'. Taylor would tell them, 'I want you to know that my firm's relationship with your company is something we cherish.' Walker added, 'It still impressed me when it was said to a second client on the same day.'
Cavan Taylor was born in 1935 in Beckenham, Kent, the only child of Albert William Taylor (known as Pat), an insurance assessor, and Muriel (née Horncastle), who worked as a secretary. He grew up in Hinchley Wood, Surrey, and at the age of eight went to King's College School, Wimbledon, maintaining a lifelong love of the institution. He was awarded a scholarship by Surrey county council to read modern languages at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, but he chose to switch to law.
By 1957 his parents had moved to Cobham, Surrey, where he met Helen (née Tinling) whose family lived opposite his. She was a music teacher, later becoming an artist. They married in 1962 and had three children: Karen, Sean and Camilla, who survive him with five grandchildren. The family's life was irrevocably changed when, aged 50, Helen suffered a serious stroke. Doctors advised that she was unlikely to survive but she lived for a further 38 years, during which time Taylor cared for her devotedly. She died in February 2021.
Their son Sean, a children's author and poet, wrote on his father's death: 'Mum's illness was a life changer. You were still in your forties. Both of you lost so much. But what I hear remembered is not a catastrophe. It's the way you wore what happened with the lightness of love.'
After National Service Taylor embarked on his law degree and also took a postgraduate LLM. In 1958 he joined Herbert Smith as an articled clerk, qualifying in 1961. In 1963 he moved in-house to the Distillers Company, then dealing with claims arising from its role as the distributor for thalidomide, the drug that caused deformities in thousands of babies. In 1965 he returned to private practice to join Piesse & Sons, which became Durrant Piesse before the merger with Lovells. He was senior partner from 1991 to 1996.
Away from his legal career, Taylor became a governor and chairman of King's College School. In that role, former school heads recall his diplomacy, wit and enthusiasm. A new library building was named after him in 2003 in recognition of his contribution to fundraising. Robin Reeve, who was appointed headmaster at King's when Taylor was chairman of the governors, cited his ability to 'bring an audience together with such a sure lightness of touch or bring a meeting to what was the right conclusion when that was far from obvious when it had begun'.
A fluent French speaker, he backed the school's introduction of the International Baccalaureate in 2001 and made no secret of his hope that it would in time become co-educational, as is now planned. Tony Evans, who succeeded Reeve as head, noted that 'change, and even determined reform, held no fear for him'.
After retirement in 1996 he became a supporter of the Prisoners' Education Trust and also loved working in his garden. His son recalled of him, 'Just being able to water your tomatoes was enough to make it the best of times.'
Not long before he died, Taylor said, 'I think I'd like my last words to be, 'It's all been really rather fun.' And that would be rather better than saying, 'Who the hell did I lend my lawnmower to?' '
Cavan Taylor, senior City solicitor, was born on February 23, 1935. He died on May 8, 2025, aged 90