You have written all your holiday notes, drafted an out of office message, packed your bags, and you are off on holidays to escape the UK heatwave. What books do you take to unwind, relax and try to stop thinking about the office?
The French Vendetta: A Holiday in Europe Turns Deadly…(Simon Michael, Sapere Books, £12.99)
Set in the 1970s, a young family head off to rural France and straight into a vendetta that started in the Second World War. This is the latest in a series of legal thrillers featuring Charles Holborne, a successful barrister who is always something of an outsider. The story is set in Gascony before English tourists took over France Profonde. It is very good at describing life in a small hamlet but the warm welcome ends in a dramatic court room scene unlike any I have read.
My second choice is for travellers who want a staycation. This book is for anyone who loves trains (and who does not!) - The Railway Murders: Significant Cases in British Railway History (Malcolm Clegg, Pen & Sword, £25.00). Railways have been associated with crime from the start. They are places where people travel on their own and rich people are forced to mingle with the rest of us. Trains are great for criminals to get on and off at will. This is a fascinating and enjoyable book exploring murders on the railway, starting with the nineteenth century homicides after robberies or sexual assault followed by throwing the dying or dead body from the train. Crimes then changed to terrorism and modern notorious crimes. There is an account of the last attempt on the life of Queen Victoria and an attempt to murder a High Court judge in the 1880s. An excellent book.
Long Weekend at Niagara and Room Four (Suzanne Stephenson, Mirador Publishing, £8.99)
These two short books are about Mike Johnson, an aspiring law student in Room Four and by the second book Long Weekend at Niagara. He is a junior partner in a solicitors’ firm. We follow Mike’s journey from modest background to a degree course at a London polytechnic and then on to qualification. He is recruited by security services to spy on his housemates and he sends regular reports to his handlers. In the second book Mike is a junior partner of a firm of solicitors. A duty solicitor call leads him to work for a family with a past and possible dodgy connections. Coincidentally he and his wife are due to go on holiday to Canada and he is asked by the head of the probably criminal family to run an errand. Two good beach reads for those of us who want to mix spying and the mob with the law.
My favourite book of the year so far is Owning Up to Mistakes (Pearl Moses, Law Society, £90.00).
Mistakes happen even to the most experienced of us and in the best run offices. They are embarrassing, worrying and annoying. Most of us have experienced that nagging disappointment with ourselves when we make silly mistakes. We promise to do better next time but somehow we do not. This excellent book underlines the importance of acting with integrity when things go wrong. This means we should own up to mistakes as quickly as possible, say sorry and have a proper plan to put things right. Do not panic is the best advice, take a deep breath and think carefully.
What we must avoid is the catastrophe of making matters worse by falsifying documents or being dishonest. The book has plenty of examples of people trying to cover up mistakes by back dating documents or other lies. Owning up might be difficult but losing a career is far worse.
The book is excellent on the importance of integrity at all levels and stages. There is guidance on how to handle errors and produce a culture of openness that is supportive. There are excellent sections in the book on wellbeing and the work of LawCare all illustrated by case studies. This is a very thorough guide and great on what causes mistakes and how to lead, manage and deal with mishaps. Perhaps all firms need to have a mistake plan to cope with problems. Is it possible to recall money sent to wrong bank account? How do you cancel an email sent to all? If firms prepared and trained for the worst it would help when errors occur, but we lawyers do not like admitting things went wrong, do we?
How mistakes are dealt with can often depend on the relationship between the lawyer and the client and the culture of the firm. If you have a good professional relationship with the client who understands you are human and trying to help, that goes a long way.
We are in the middle of a summer of sport, with an American president allegedly interfering to get a red card given at a World Cup football match overturned. Sport is big business, attracting sponsorship, advertising revenue and lucrative deals. Who deals with things if it all goes wrong? The ref? The umpire? No - a lawyer! Sports Law (Michael Beloff and others, Hart, (price varies)) is a good, readable introduction although a bit old now as it came out just after the London Olympics in 2012. I am probably not going to asked to advise on a VAR dispute but may be involved in an argument about village football. The Elgar Concise Encyclopedia of Sports Law (B Hessert, Edward Elgar Publishing, £240.00) came out last year and has an international flavour.
I can feel a hydration break coming on so enjoy your holiday reading. What books do you take with you?
No comments yet