James Wilson
Author
Trials & Tribulations
From The Times, Xmas recommendations, 17 December 2015. Court & Bowled was recommended for Xmas 2014.
"Ethical dilemmas, nail-biting litigation, human crises - all are here. No wonder writers like the law ..."
From Mr Phillip Taylor MBE, Barrister, 1 February 2016
Text of Mr Taylor's review (from Amazon), 31 January 2016
SOME GREAT LEGAL ANECDOTES WELCOMED AT A TIME OF CHANGE FOR THE BENCH AND THE BAR
An appreciation by Phillip Taylor MBE and Elizabeth Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers
This is only a short book in 12 parts but every part of it is well worth reading for the insights it offers into the common law as we have it today. New Zealander James Wilson comes to his legal task with the same relish and intentions as he did with his previous work “Court and Bowled” and his books make a good read!
Wilson presents us here with his second book of short essays on law stories writing in his Preface that he looks “at a broad range of cases or other legal dilemmas” that have caught his attention over “nearly a thousand years of the common law” and there has been “no shortage of material”(Law students would agree!)
So Wilson poses the best question of all for us: “why are court cases such a fertile source for writers of fiction and non-fiction alike?” The answer is that they usually have a beginning, the middle… and an end!
They also have a ready cast of characters playing defined roles (Counsel will be pleased to hear!) He goes on to say that such characters always have an inherent crisis to be resolved and also contain a great deal of human interest: behind what he describes as “the theatrics and etiquette of the courtroom, and the often arcane language and concepts of the law, there are real people seeking answers to real-life problems”… beautifully expressed.
The common law is sometimes described as being “made by faceless corporations or rich and powerful individuals seeking to preserve their money or reputation” and that criticism has resurfaced recently. Just as often, however, as a balance it is made by ordinary people who are not seeking fame or wealth, but who are simply trying to right whatever they believed has been wronged.
Wilson’s collection has fifty stories of notable court cases covering more than a century of legal history. There are the great ethical dilemmas – and that desperate and tragic hard case of the conjoined twins where one, but not both, could survive. Another important vignette concerns the football fan Tony Bland who was left in a persistent vegetative state after the Hillsborough Disaster, and whose family faced the tragic choice of ending treatment- yes, this is the common law for you and why we are lawyers dealing with such difficulties.
And of course, there are the great legal cases such as Donoghue v Stevenson and Louisa Carlill’s case. We have the ridiculous and disgraceful Victorian scandals such as Oscar Wilde’s fall from high society and destruction, or the wrongful imprisonment of Captain Dreyfus. Then there are more topical cases, such as those involving religion and the law and the ‘clash of rights’ that sometimes occurs when devout people find their conscience will not allow them to act according to the law. Yes, they are all there.
And then there are cases that can only be described as absurd. The writer Julie Burchill was once sued by a litigant who was offended by her describing him ‘ugly’. In another matter, an unfortunate marital dispute required the judge to look at reams of hard-core pornography, and to try to find judicially-appropriate neutral language to describe it.
Written in an accessible style with an eye to the human as much as legal interest, Wilson’s collection will be of interest to lawyers and non-lawyers alike and is an excellent addition to the bookshelves. Thank you.
"Wilson’s collection will be of interest to lawyers and non-lawyers alike and is an excellent addition to the bookshelves."
From the New Law Journal, 11 March 2016, review by Emeritus Professor Keith Davies
"A great read for any lawyer"
In 1979, The Advocates Society welcomed Lord Tom Denning to Toronto. He was on a tour publicizing his latest book. I was gifted The Discipline of Law as a call to the bar gift shortly after.
Forty-five years on—and a quarter century after the world-famous jurist’s death at 100—James Wilson’s new biography is an excellent and thorough review of the still relevant, and always controversial jurist. Wilson himself practices law in New Zealand and the U.K., and is an accomplished writer on legal topics, including exploring legal cases around the game of cricket. The result is not only a highly readable biography but an excellent reference source on the innumerable areas of the law that Denning contributed to developing.
The book’s 23 chapters extensively cover Denning’s life and upbringing and every stage of his legal career. These are preceded by the book’s opening, which includes quotes about him and by him (never overly modest!) Among the mostly glowing accolades is a comment from Reuben Hassan, Professor Emeritus at Osgoode Hall Law School, who opines that Lord Denning “fell considerably short of the stature of a great judge (or jurist).” The late-Lord Brooke declares him as “rather a discredited figure.”
Through an examination of the man’s life and times, Wilson gives us insight into what drove both Denning’s innovation as well as his often moralistic, judgmental rigidness. His strengths and weakness in many ways reflected the changing society of England during his long life. The book is also meticulously footnoted with a select bibliography of over ten pages including reports or works authored by Denning.
The last chapter, appropriately titled “A Final Judgement,” includes a critical analysis of Denning’s well known, catchy, succinct openings that he is so remembered for: “It all started in a public house,” or “ A man’s head got caught in a propeller.” While memorable, among other criticisms, the author suggests that putting the merits of the case up front with the facts was Denning’s way of getting the reader to agree with his decision.
In summary, Wilson has delivered a well-organized, readable, and interesting biography / legal-social history that should give a judicial reader both insight and knowledge of perhaps the most influential jurist of the modern era.