All articles by James Morton – Page 4
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NewsParading your identity politics
ID parades in the days when I had just qualified were nerve-racking.
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NewsRead letter day leads to gallows
The year 1922 was not a good one for Sir Henry Curtis-Bennett, or more particularly for his clients.
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NewsPlaying the ID blame game
My clients were convinced that parades were rigged and I have no doubt sometimes they were.
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NewsPaying the price for counsel
In the 1960s, the wife of a client turned up after he had been acquitted and pushed an envelope across the desk. ‘Give that to [his counsel], will you? It’s £400.’
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NewsLearned friends in high places
It was fortunate for Edmund Galley that a number of young barristers were in court at Exeter Assizes in 1836 to watch his murder trial.
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FeatureHave the judges lost control?
I know that as one gets older, the past gets rosier, but one thing is certain – justice was swifter years ago.
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NewsWhen the show must go on
In the late 1960s, Ernle Money, then MP for Ipswich, a member of Billy Rees-Davies’ chambers and a man who could read and digest reports faster than anyone else I knew, decided he would put on a fundraising play for an arts festival.
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NewsThe pain and gain of partnership
Simpson asked rather casually if I wanted a partnership. This was the Everest in my career.
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NewsLove affair lands lawyer inside
US lawyer Mary Evans fell in love with Tim Kirk while he was serving a sentence for robbery.
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NewsNo reprieve for poor pantry boy
Execution of 18-year-old convicted of murder in 1922 caused great outcry.
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NewsSolicitor sent to the gallows
On 31 May 1922 Major Herbert RowseArmstrong became the only solicitor tobe hanged for murder. He may well havepoisoned his bullying wife Kathleen, but didhe have a fair trial?
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NewsTide turns on insanity defence
Credit for the defence of crime passionnel goes to Edwin Stanton, appearing for fellow US Congressman Daniel Sickles of New York.
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NewsGetting shirty over dress code
When I first started in the law, dress in court was all-important.
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NewsDarling of the evening papers
Sir Charles Darling was in some ways forward-thinking. In others he jostled for the title of ‘worst judge in history’.
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NewsWhen defence is a moral dilemma
Can you refuse to act for a client on moral grounds in a criminal matter?
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NewsRecommendation to be regretted
When I first set up on my own, one of my landlords was the irascible Edwin Hornchurch.
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NewsStamping out rookie mistakes
The first time I was reported to the Law Society by another firm came a day or so after I qualified.
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NewsCooper’s chorus of disapproval
In 1942 former Western Australian barrister Reginald Cooper, 40, fell out badly with his protégé, the 23-year-old English chorus girl Peggy Stacey.
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NewsYou win some, you Lewes some
Expert witness Sir Keith Simpson nearly had Morton in serious trouble down at Lewes Crown Court.