08 QB VII by Leon Uris

Author:Leon Uris [Uris, Leon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

14

ONE OF THE PRIME movers of the British legal machinery is the Master system. Masters are a kind of assistant judges or referees. The Master has been a barrister ten years or more before his appointment and sets the mode and preparation of a trial. They sit in chambers in the Royal Court of Justice doing away with much of the legal boondoggle that lawyers use to plague courts in other parts of the world.

The Master will make rulings on the number of witnesses permitted, the approximate time a case should be scheduled, the pre-questioning of witnesses, rulings on amendments to complaints and pleadings, and issuance of orders to produce documents.

In certain instances the Master will try a case.

His rulings are quick and concise, accurate to the application of the law, and rarely overruled later in court.

The Masters Chambers border a large room called the “Bear Garden” where solicitors gather to make an appearance. They come in pin stripes, young hopefuls, tired old shabby ones, long haired, short haired.

The Master is seated behind a counter-like affair, calling opposing solicitors before him every several minutes. He scans their briefs.

“Well, what is it you want?”

The solicitors argue. Often an astute Master will say, “Some things are so clear they shouldn’t be argued.”

At that point the solicitors retreat to the Bear Garden having been subtly warned that one side is wasting his client’s money and the court’s time. An agreement may be made on the spot and a lawsuit stopped dead.

Before a lawsuit appears in court, the Master will have clearly set down the rules of verbal combat.

For an important trial such as the Kelno versus Cady affair, Master Bartholomew will take up the matter in his private chambers in deference to the appearances of barristers of the eminence of Thomas Bannister and Sir Robert Highsmith. In the chambers of Master Bartholomew came the first probings concerning the admissibility of certain witnesses and documents.

In the winter of 1966–67 formality was chucked. Tom Bannister’s chambers and apartment were often too busy with political callers. Alexander’s office in Lincoln’s Inn was an impossible place of nooks and crannies unable to accommodate the mass of data flowing back from all over the world. There was a unanimous feeling that Shawcross’s fabled library should become the command center. In an unusual move they gathered every several days to fine-comb the correspondence, discuss strategy, and make the decisions.

The first bridge was the selection of a junior barrister. Traditionally the solicitor selected a junior but because of Bannister’s eminence they casually waited for him to drop a name. That name was Brendon O’Conner; a flamboyant, brilliant, sentimental idealist. O’Conner and Bannister represented different styles of advocacy but the junior was an incredibly tireless worker and the soundness of his appointment became apparent very early.

Libel was one of six non-criminal categories in which either party could call for trial by jury. It was extremely rare in civil matters. The jury or not the jury has baffled lawyers since the inception of law.

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