At last I have discovered why, back in the 1950s, barristers did not shake hands with their instructing solicitors. But then they didn’t have lunch with them either. That was known as ‘hugging the attorney’ and was a disciplinary offence.

I’m not quite sure how that worked. I think the rule was that they could dine at the solicitor’s expense but could not entertain him (or much less frequently her) in return. Presumably there were exceptions, such as those solicitors who had sweated and slaved so they could give their offspring a higher calling. Very often barristers would not travel in the same train compartment, in the days before open carriages that is. Certainly not if they were silk.

The peak of any relationship was when they called you ‘Morton’ and not ‘Mr Morton’. You realised then you had arrived. I had always thought all this was to emphasise the difference in social status, rather like at school when the prefects would not mix with the fags. I was wrong. I have done the senior branch of the profession an injustice all these years.

It was all revealed to me when a friend attended a training course during which she had to role play. A woman in her group told of how, after being diagnosed with cancer, she had gone for counselling. Apparently the woman was placed at the other end of the room from the counselor, something which she thought was strange in the first place, and after the session ended went across to shake hands.

The counselor remained seated and put her hands behind the back of her chair. My friend thought this was very odd and when she told the story so did the rest of the group, but the woman in charge of the training session explained that it was perfectly normal. It was for health and safety reasons.

And there you have it. The bar, a profession, always one step ahead, was merely practising what is today recognised as proper conduct. Barristers obviously feared their instructing solicitor was going to attack them, just as cancer patients, fresh out of chemotherapy, often attack those who counsel them. And all those years, I thought they were just being snobbish. Mea culpa – if anyone nowadays can (or is allowed to) translate that tag. But there again, was there such a thing as health and safety all those years ago?

James Morton is a writer and former criminal defence solicitor