Search
This area does not yet contain any content.
Justinian News

Holding onto Hope: Gina Rinehart's Bleak House ... Seeking chunks of the huge iron ore pit, Hope Downs ... Tracing the tangled Wright, Hancock, Rinehart litigation ... Allegations of fraud against the family trust ... Manouvering ... Tax "advice" ... Shifting vesting date ... Money, the root of unhappiness ... Anthony-James Kanaan reports ... Read more >> 

Politics Media Law Society


Rupert World ... Lord Moloch’s pal Doug the Diva – driving Washington spare … News UK’s model for unionism … What next for the Washington Post? … Concealed coal lobbyists running an anti-Teal campaign … More corruption busting for Stinging Nettle … The litigation industry spawned by Lehrmann ... Read on >> 

Free Newsletter
Justinian Columnists

Party time for Dicey ... Heydon's book - a pathway to rehabilitation ... The predatory man and the clever intellect - all wrapped up in the one person ... Academic tome and cancel agenda ... Despite the plaudits the record of abuse doesn't vanish ... Book launch with young associates at a safe distance ... Procrustes thinks out loud ... Read more >> 

Blow the whistle

 

News snips ...


Debbie Does Damien ... Mortimer's first public interview as CJ ... ABC's Law Report ... The ins and out of live streaming and the media's access to documents ... More >> 

Justinian's Bloggers

Conclave Part 2: Return of the Prodigal ... Vatican fraudster returns ... Fly in the Conclave ointment ... Claims to have been forgiven by Pope Francis ... Doubts about his entitlement to vote ... What can go wrong? ... Silvana Olivetti reports from Rome ... Read more >> 

"We're in unchartered territory here. A Pope hasn't died before during an Australian election campaign."  

Jane Norman, National Affairs Correspondent, ABC News ... April 21, 2025 ... Read more flatulence ... 


Justinian Featurettes

Letter from Rome ... Judges on strike ... Too much "reform" ... Berlusconi legacy ... Referendum on the way ... Constitutional court inflames the Meloni regime with decision on boat people ... Insults galore ... Silvana Olivetti reports ... Read more >> 


Justinian's archive

Tea is for Tippy ... Life of a tiffstaff ... Bright, ambitious and, when it comes to the crucial things, hopeless ... Milking the glory of the gig ...  Introducing Tippy, our new blogger filing from within the concrete cage at Queens Square ... From Justinian's Archive, March 15, 2010 ...  Read more >> 


 

 

« An 'A' for a lay | Main | Leave application rejected »
Monday
Oct282013

Brief encounter  

The interplay between barrister and solicitor ... Did Junior Junior's female friend at the bar get a big brief because the solicitor fancied her? ... Surely it's her legal skills that are in demand?  

The relationship between solicitor and barrister ranges from symmetry to fraught, with lots of permutations in between.

On its good days, barristers and solicitors delight in each others company and engage in mutual appreciation of their respective legal talents and knowledge, producing the perfect opera that is a winning case.

On bad days, the ship in Aliens looks an attractive place into which to move your chambers.

I am always intrigued to hear stories of the subtle interplay between barrister and solicitor.  

Many relationships have stood the test of time, unpaid fees and sexual indiscretions. 

Others are a misplaced birthday email away from implosion.

Recently a baby barrister friend told me a disturbing story ...

She was briefed to provide some advice and drafting on a big matter by a very nice solicitor. 

The brief would take quite a while and so the two struck up a friendship over emails and conferences.

The solicitor lived in a different city, but would visit the barrister when he was in town and they would have lunch.

The relationship developed and, to the baby barrister's distress, the solicitor started sending her little tokens of appreciation - flowers here and wine there, and on one occasion a gourmet hamper for her birthday.

The barrister was not interested in pursuing anything other than a professional relationship and was unsure how she should handle the solicitor's looming birthday. 

Should she ignore it, send a present, a card? Ultimately, she thought a modest birthday email would be friendly, but suitably reserved. 

Around the same time, the two of them chanced upon each other in the street. 

The barrister was with her fiancé and after an awkward introduction, the solicitor hurried off to a "meeting". 

Within a few days our baby barrister received an email from her solicitor in the big matter. 

Her services would no longer be required and to please return the brief.

She was shocked as well as a little relieved that the unwanted attention would be finally over. 

She popped the brief in the DX.  It was the last she heard from him.

For a baby barrister, the loss of a substantial brief is cause to lock oneself in a darkened room with several bottles of vodka and not surface for a week. 

I'm pleased to report that she remained surprisingly unfazed and simply caught up with her friends for a pow wow at Lindt.  

How very Sigourney Weaver of her. 

Junior Junior reporting

References (1)

References allow you to track sources for this article, as well as articles that were written in response to this article.
  • Response
    Brief encounter - Bloggers - Justinian: Australian legal magazine. News on lawyers and the law

Reader Comments

There are no comments for this journal entry. To create a new comment, use the form below.
Member Account Required
You must have a member account on this website in order to post comments. Log in to your account to enable posting.