Why I became a Barrister: So I get to always dress in black
Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,Why you never see bright colors on my back,And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.Well, there’s a reason for the things that I have on. I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,Livin’ in the hopeless, hungry side of town,I…
DetailsWhen You Are Old & Gray
Tom Lehrer does not look forward to growing old together
What marriage means
To marry is to halve your rights and double your duties. Reflections of a Bachelor, 1878
DetailsUgo Bettie
I think the family is the place where the most ridiculous and least respectable things in the world go on.
There ought to be a word for it!
The moral dilemma you find yourself in when you know you are going to be late for an important appointment and that it is really your fault because you left the house just a bit too late to catch the train on time but it becomes apparent along the way that you would have been…
DetailsThere ought to be a word for it!
The moment of pure joy when you are cross-examining someone and it couldn’t be going better if you scripted the answers yourself – every question hits home & you and the witness are dancing in a conversation – you, the witness and anyone listening are no longer conscious that it is a question & answer…
DetailsThere ought to be a word for it!
Another moment of pure joy when you are running a case which all around you thinks is unwinnable and you get the first confirmation in the evidence that you are going to be able to knock down the other side’s deck of cards. It is even better if the other side cannot see the significance…
DetailsThere ought to be a word for it!
A particularly unprofessional pleasure you get at winning a case against a singularly obnoxious and difficult opponent who comes in for heavy criticism for the judge for the precise same things that you have found so obnoxious in the seemingly endless months you have been dealing with them before the case gets to a final…
DetailsThere ought to be a word for it!
The more than slight irritation & professional outrage you feel when the tribunal you are in front of makes a decision which is probably the right decision but makes it for all the wrong reasons and in doing so makes no reference to your skilful submissions which you spent several hours preparing and clearly might…
DetailsThere ought to be a word for it!
That moment of panic when you realise you have left your mobile phone at home but if you turn back to fetch it you will miss your train and arrive late for an important appointment so you can’t really do that and then you start running through whether you might be able to come back…
DetailsThere ought to be a word for it!
That slight embarassment when someone tells you something secret / confidential assuming you are in the know (eg impending judicial appointment) and you have to bluff that you knew all about it and have done for ages because you should have done – after all s/he is your closest friend even though you have not…
DetailsThere ought to be a word for it!
The cold clammy fearful anxiety when hearing of a friend getting back together with their boyfriend and announcing the engagement when the last time you saw them and they had just split up you let rip about how much you had always hated him because he was a stupid weasel that she was much better…
DetailsThe sentence of marriage
I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury. Groucho Marx
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