Law Society’s Gazette, September 1970

View from the countryI will not easily forget the case of Milton v Shrewsbury. It never found its way into any law reports but it still creeps slyly into my dreams, a regular twice-yearly dream.

I was one of the band of unfortunates who directly after passing their final suffered five non-legal years in the army. When they let me out, it was not a case of trying to get up to date by catching up on the changes that had taken place. It was a matter of starting all over again. Every one of those cases and acts that I had lovingly cherished at the time of my final had been wiped from my mind. My firm engaged me, I imagine, as a patriotic gesture, with a fervent hope that if I was of no immediate value, I might turn out to be some sort of long-term investment.

The managing clerk’s call at my flat at 10pm on the evening of my third day’s work as a civilian was, for these reasons, all the more shattering.

‘It’s Chelmsford Assizes for you tomorrow,’ he said, thrusting three stones of files onto a table. ‘Bromley’s gone down with mumps – so you’ll have to do it. Everything’s laid on,’ he added kindly, ‘all you have to do is sit there.’

The facts that brought Milton and Shrewsbury into this head-on collision have long been forgotten. Even after a sleepless night trying to make sense of the files and at the end of the one-day hearing, I had little idea what the contest was about. Quentin Hogg was on one side, Hugh Boileau on the other. I was even in some doubt as to which of them was my man. I cringed behind them, dead centre, hoping that neither of them would think that I claimed him.

Unfortunately, it turned out to be a case with a vast number of exhibits and some doorstep-sized bundles of correspondence that had been, to say the least, patchily agreed. Every few minutes through that interminable day Hogg (or was it Boileau?) would turn and hiss: ‘Let me have the original letter of 27 May’, or ‘Post Office savings bank book, please’, or even, ‘Where is our earliest affidavit?’

I do not believe that I located a single thing that they asked me for. The pile of loose documents feverishly scattered around me became knee deep and the judge’s weary sighs grew longer and more petulant. I had managed to preserve in the army the burning zest and unshakeable confidence of comparative youth. On that day I lost the lot. Even when I found that we had won the case, I could not share in the celebrations of Milton (or was it Shrewsbury?) – nor in the satisfaction of Hogg (or was it Boileau?).David Barr

Law Society’s Gazette, September 1990

Postbox – all is forgivenI would like to apologise publicly through your columns to the Law Society. In the past, I have complained about the fact that, when dealing with legal aid matters, it could take up to a couple of months to answer letters. However, since the Legal Aid Board was established, I have never had any of my letters answered.Nigel Ley, London EC4