​James Wilson
Author
"a good mix of 50 tales from the courts covering murder, warfare, the press, sport and many others. The accounts of each case are interesting and include something new for everyone."
- Law Society Gazette
"These tales are riveting"
- Christchurch Press
Cases, Causes and Controversies: Fifty Tales from the Law
Published by Wildy, Simmonds & Hill, 2012.
What do Prince Charles, Bette Davis, Sir Ian Botham, Mrs Victoria Gillick and a man whose family grave appeared in the background of a splatter horror film have in common? Each of them felt they had been wronged in some way, and each went to court to try and do something about it.
Sometimes their case was a purely private argument. Others brought cases of national importance, or claims which raised acute moral and ethical principles. Some won handsomely, while others lost so badly that they ended up far worse than when they started.
This book looks at fifty legal disputes from Victorian times to the present day, where a compelling moral or legal issue was at stake, or where the background to the case was interesting, amusing or infuriating. It begins with three Victorian murders, including the law student favourite of R v Dudley and Stephens, the case of shipwrecked sailors eating the cabin boy and later facing trial for his murder. It then covers cases ranging from the early days of Hollywood and both world wars, through to modern day battles over superinjunctions, MPs expenses, the vexed relationship between religion and law, and the sometimes hazy relationship of law and sport.
Some of the stories border on the absurd. Why did the legendarily tough international sportsmen Ian Botham and Allan Lamb show no fear in the face of hostile fast bowling on the pitch, yet go to their lawyers when their old opponent Imran Khan said something they didn t like in a newspaper? Irony runs through many of the cases. Bette Davis was left penniless after losing her case in England and felt she had no option but to return to America and resume working for the studio she had unsuccessfully sued. But after doing so she became one of the richest and most acclaimed actresses in history.
In other cases the irony is less happy: the indigenous rights campaigner Eddie Mabo won a great victory for his people, but was shunned by them during his lifetime and never lived to see his final legal victory. Then there are the outright tragic: the execution of the civilian Charles Fryatt by the Germans during the Great War, for example, shocked not only his own side but neutral observers of the day as well.
Written in a clear, accessible style, free of legal technicalities, the book will be of interest not simply to lawyers but to anyone interested in stories of great human interest and how the legal system tried to deal with them. For lawyers and the general reader who is interested in current affairs, history and law in action.
The book is available on Amazon here or from the publishers here.
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.
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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.
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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.