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Being there part 4

Sometimes of course a failure to attend court can be caused by circumstances beyond the barrister's control.

One of the tightest near misses that I ever had arose from a computer error. In the dim and distant past (10 years ago or so) computers were both less powerful and more temperamental. It was a Friday. I had to have a skeleton argument (outline opening) to the Judge for the trial commencing the following week. The Judge was sitting in Liverpool, and as High Court judges do when on Circuit was staying at the Judges' lodgings during the week and then returning home for the weekend. He needed the skeleton at the court that afternoon before he left.

I also had a case listed at 4 p.m. that same Friday. A particular judge needed to hear it and that was the only time he was going to be available. I was preparing the skeleton argument for the following week's trial in my study at home, and then planned to travel in the court for that afternoon's application.

Difficulties with the computer meant that although the argument had been finished the screen "froze" and would neither print nor fax the document. I battled to get it out. Time passed. Seeing the way things were going, I organised a driver. I eventually managed to get the documents sent, jumped into the car and was driven to the court steps. I changed into my robes in the car and arrived at court two minutes before the case was due to start. Whizzing through security, I raced up the stairs at the court building, into the courtroom, opened my file, with about one second to spare as the usher then shouted "court rise" and the Judge walked in. Since it was my application I was immediately starting to open it. Everything went well and our application succeeded, but I would have not liked to have had my blood pressure or heart rate taken at the moment the case started.

I suppose you could say that if I'd done the skeleton argument the day before the problem would never have arisen. In that sense the tight deadline was my fault. However if you try to plan a practice around assuming that every unforeseen hitch (technical or otherwise) would occur and interfere with your timetable, you would simply be unable to fit all your work in. On my timetable absent the technical problems I should have been at court with over an hour to spare. You can imagine how galling it was to have done the hard part (preparing the written argument in a difficult case) and then be unable to actually get it to the Judge.

One of my earliest difficulties about arriving on time was in my very first days as a barrister. The days when you would do any case, anywhere, however small the fee. I was given two cases in Macclesfield Magistrates Court. One family case, one criminal case. Neither case was particularly complicated or lengthy. What possible problem could there be? None I thought, until arrived at court. Then I found that the criminal cases were heard in one building, and the family cases in another building about 10 minutes walk away in a different part of town. Running between two court rooms in order to make sure you are appearing at the right time is one thing. Running between two buildings is a little more complicated. Although it eventually worked out without there being any difficulty, it is not a pleasant position to be in.

Michael J. Booth QC