All articles by James Morton
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NewsWriting wrongs: top scribe tips
Once I became editor of a legal magazine I quickly learned some lessons about writing. Here are a few thoughts about submissions.
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NewsExceptions to the cab rank rule
In 25 years of practice, I never met a clerk who, if he or his master did not want a case, could not evade it.
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NewsOn course to find your feet
In the 1960s young solicitors who wanted to do a bit of advocacy were thrown in at the deep end.
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NewsSettling down at the fledgling CPS
Teething problems are overcome at the new Crown Prosecution Service.
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NewsMatron! Cases for the prosecution
Morton's first day acting as an agent for the newly formed Crown Prosecution Service did not begin well.
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NewsLiberties at stake in rush for justice
There are several ways in which justice can be expedited without root-and-branch changes.
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NewsCrimes changing with the seasons
January and February were for burglary, summer months were reserved for hotel theft, while October was the lorry hijack season.
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NewsJudges who took their time
For the fourth time this year, a judge has been given formal advice for misconduct over a late judgment. None, however, was in the class of a 19th-century lord chancellor.
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NewsHow our DPPs are remembered
Every DPP’s tenure is judged by one or two cases which they should have prosecuted but didn’t, or shouldn’t have prosecuted but did.
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NewsJudges behaving badly – again
There must, I suppose, be some sympathy for a judge or magistrate who has a very occasional outburst during a case – provided that they do not do it too often.
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NewsMatters of life and Dr Death
It is a wonder how some ‘experts’ have ever been allowed to give evidence.
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NewsFacing judge who inspired fear
Extremely difficult Edward Clarke summons Morton to his chambers.
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NewsSkeletons in the cupboard
Bundles of unstamped conveyances and mortgages and fake divorce papers.
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NewsA tale of canine court officers
Research papers are beginning to appear discussing whether dogs in court are an influence on juries.
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NewsFuller figure in conveyancing
Solicitor Roy Fuller was a genial and unbelievably patient man who looked like the archetype of a British flying officer in a war film.
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NewsLords leaping into marriage
Three daughters of the 1930s nightclub queen Kate Meyrick married peers of the realm.
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NewsThe worst judge of a bad bunch?
It is fun to rank bad judges. Was Goddard worse than Stevenson? Was Darling worse than Montagu? Was Jeffries the worst of all? And then there was the infamous 19th-century judge Henry Hawkins.
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NewsBridge too far for jumpers
Bridge jumping was once a fashionable sport in both England and America. It was viewed with disdain by the judiciary on both sides of the water.