Reviews

Paul Magrath reviews a mesmerising new courtroom thriller in which Peter Murphy’s ambitious barrister hero Ben Schroeder takes on a challenging case involving a Welsh nationalist bomb plot.  All the details of barristerial life, the rules of ethics and evidence, and the courtroom procedure appropriate for the 1960s period setting are pitch perfect. Yet is… Continue reading

Podcasts are a great way of keeping up to date with radio programmes about law, but they can also deliver a series of instalments of a longer, more detailed or complex narrative. They’re easy to download and store on a smartphone or other device, using one of the dedicated apps. (I use the Podcasts app… Continue reading

The Little Book of Music Law, by Amber Nicole Shavers. Reviewed by Paul Magrath.   As demonstrated by the recent litigation over claims that one of the most famous rock anthems of all time, Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven”, was partly filched from another song, the opportunities for legal disputes in the world of music… Continue reading

As one of the most famous criminal defence barristers who ever practised in England and Wales, Sir Edward Marshall Hall KC MP makes a fascinating subject for a new biography, and Sally Smith QC, who took a year out of her own busy practice to write this book, more than does him justice. Paul Magrath… Continue reading

Imagine being accused of something heinous and not knowing whether you did it or not, and not being able to trust anyone to help you find out what really happened and why. That’s the situation John Anderson, a leading prosecutor in Manchester chambers, on the verge of taking silk, finds himself in at the start… Continue reading

The Crime Museum is a collection of objects and documents preserved by the police from crimes they have investigated. It used to be called the Police Museum and is based at New Scotland Yard. A selection of its contents forms the basis of an exhibition currently (until 10 April 2016) on display at the Museum… Continue reading

In a blend of biography, memoir and a certain amount of amateur legal analysis, Adam Mars-Jones discusses his sometimes difficult relationship with his father, the High Court judge Sir William Mars-Jones, whom he cared for in his declining years and now recalls both as a private man with his family and as a public figure… Continue reading

Jeremy Hutchinson, who later became Lord Hutchinson of Lullington QC, was a leading criminal defence advocate, involved in many of the most important cases of the 1960s and 70s, particularly those involving espionage, official secrecy and various forms of censorship. Paul Magrath reviews a celebration of Hutchinson’s most interesting cases, written up by fellow barrister… Continue reading

Confessions of a Barrister, by Russell Winnock (The Friday Project/Harper Collins, £8.99) Reviewed by Paul Magrath This is a warts-n-all depiction of life at the criminal bar, written by a junior of about fifteen years’ call, and seems to me both honest and authentic. It may lack the charm and romanticised rhetoric of Rumpole of… Continue reading

Reviewed by Sarah Phillimore Delivering Family Justice in the 21st Century (Edited by Mavis Maclean, John Eekelaar & Benoit Bastard, Hart Publishing, 2015) This is a wide ranging work – there are nineteen Chapters over four separate parts. The first two parts examine law and delivering family justice, examining the role of Judges and the courts in such… Continue reading