David Geake's documented formation took place in England, where he studied law at the University of Birmingham and later entered the English legal profession. Birmingham grew into one of Britain's major industrial centres during the nineteenth century, and its university developed from civic institutions founded in that period.
Geake studied law at the University of Birmingham and received the Bachelor of Laws degree. The university originated as Mason College, founded in 1875 by the industrialist Josiah Mason, and received a royal charter as a university in 1900. Its civic origins made it one of the early redbrick universities in England, providing a provincial alternative to the older universities of Oxford and Cambridge.
His admission to the bar in England in 1977 marked his entry into the English legal profession. Admission of this kind was the formal step through which lawyers qualified to practise in England, and it preceded his later work in London.
Geake worked as a partner of Theodore Goddard, a London law firm. The firm was founded in 1902 by the English solicitor John Theodore Goddard and was based in London. Its growth in the early twentieth century included a move to offices at Sergeant's Inn in the Temple area of London in 1917, and by 1946 it had eight partners.
Theodore Goddard developed as a balanced general practice with an emphasis on private client work. A partner in such a firm shared in the ownership and management of the practice, and Geake's partnership formed part of that London legal environment. The firm merged with Addleshaw Booth & Co on 1 May 2003 to form Addleshaw Goddard, which ended the Theodore Goddard partnership as a separate firm.
His admission to the bar in England in 1977 provided the professional qualification that preceded and framed his work in the English legal system.
