There was plenty in the Court of Appeal’s hearing this week on Belsner for the lay person to enjoy, even if the lay person would probably be baffled how three of the nation’s leading judges and a cohort of six barristers are needed to rule on a claim for £385.50.

One perhaps unprecedented moment was on the final morning when Benjamin Williams KC appeared to break the fourth wall (the court room, of course, already has four walls but we’ll gloss over that) in the style of Ferris Bueller or Fleabag. The court action is livestreamed on YouTube and at one point Williams joked with the bench about the maths abilities of his chambers colleagues. Remembering that the hearing was live-streamed, he quickly turned to the camera mounted in the corner and explained ‘That was a facetious remark’.

With every session caught on camera, the temptation for counsel is to go home and watch the whole thing again in the evening. David Holland KC, representing the Law Society which is intervening in the appeal, admitted he had watched his own submissions back in what he referred to as his ‘video nasty’. The repeat viewing, he said, helped him clarify a couple of points the following morning, but Obiter would still recommend Williams gets a Netflix subscription if he wants to take a break from the courtroom drama.

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