Influences part 2
^ TOPTony Oakley
Another person who influenced my approach to work at the Bar was Tony Oakley. He now is in practice as a barrister. Our paths have not crossed. I would enjoy it if they did.
^ TOPLand Law
Tony Oakley is a brilliant lawyer and an engaging personality. He was my land law tutor. Land law was taught during the second year, and is a technical and heavy subject. At that stage, having done no real work in my first year apart from last-minute cramming for the exams, and having no real interest in the law, it was as dull as ditchwater. Ironically, it is a field that I grew to find fascinatingly interesting, (and is one of the areas of practice I now work in), but at the time that would have seemed about as likely as Osama bin Laden trying to convert to Judaism. Like most complex legal subjects, property law, until you really master it, is like and out of focus photograph of a beautiful landscape. Fuzzy, boring, and of no interest. Master it, get the focus right, and it is suddenly beautiful. Just like the intricate mathematical patterns that can be appreciated as beautiful by those who understand the subject, while others are bogged down in the footslogging of attempting to get to grips with equations that they do not really follow.
^ TOPThe Settled Land Act 1925
Thus I did no work for land law, and it was obvious I had done no work. At one tutorial I arrived (late) and my sole contribution was at the end of the tutorial when Tony Oakley asked us if we had any questions. "What exactly is the Settled Land Act 1925?" I asked. Tony Oakley did not look amused. As we were leaving, a fellow student showed me the sheet we had been sent to work on for the tutorial (I did not have my copy, indeed had not read it). At the top it was headed "The Settled Land Act 1925".
^ TOPCambridge Union
I knew by this stage that it was all but certain that I would be elected President of the Union Society at the end of the year to serve in the first term of the final year. However that would not come about if I was sent down (expelled). Another tutor, Tony Weir told me to make sure I passed the exams because given my lack of effort there would be nothing they could do to save me from being expelled if I failed. Looking back, I am horrified that I did not work harder at university when you consider that there were absolute intellectual giants at college such as Sir Basil Markesinis, Eli Lauterpacht, Gareth Jones and the two Tonys previously mentioned.
^ TOPExpulsion loomed
Tony Oakley apparently exulted in the prospect of my expulsion. He would tell other tutorial groups that I was going to be thrown out of university, (knowing that gossip would bring this back to me) and he would say it with relish. I hated him. There was no way I was going to give the b*stard the satisfaction of seeing me fail.
A Herculean last-minute effort succeeded. My grade in land law was a first.
^ TOPConflict and resolution
Tony Oakley and I ended up going for a drink. To bury the hatchet. He told me that most people respond to encouragement. A small number (of which he said he himself was one) respond best to conflict. He had given up trying to be nice. He thought the only way to galvanise me into passing was to make me hate him so much there was no way I would give him the satisfaction of being proved right.
Law is about psychology as much as technical details. There is no set plan for how people respond. Whether a judge, a witness, or people in the team you're working with. There is no one size fits all approach to legal tactics and strategy. When I became a lawyer, I realised what Tony Oakley had done was an illustration of a far wider principle applicable to legal cases. I owe him a debt of gratitude for that. As well as for ensuring that I passed my exam.