Law Society’s Gazette, 8 December 1981

The Royal Courts of Justice, by Rodney Griffith

When today we behold the splendour of the interior of the Great Hall of Justice in the Law Courts in the Strand, it is difficult to conceive the amenities that prevailed before that graceful structure was built 100 years ago. In the 1870s, the common law courts at Westminster Hall, the Rolls Court off Chancery Lane, and the Courts of Chancery in the ‘dingy little sheds’ in Lincoln’s Inn, all suffered from bad lighting, poor ventilation and cramped conditions.

Take Lincoln’s Inn as an example. Witnesses had to remain outside regardless of weather. In Dolman v Danson counsel announced that the case was expected to have taken much time but ‘owing in great part to the structural difficulties’ of the building, the parties had met in Lincoln’s Inn gardens, renewed their friendship and settled the matter in dispute.

The Rolls Court (which stood where the northern wing of the Public Record Office now is) was just as bad. In 1879, the Estates Gazette begged for some kind of veranda to be erected to protect the clerks, waiting on the pathway, from the weather.The courts of law were, for some, even worse. In March 1879, ‘A Barrister’ wrote to The Times: ‘This afternoon, when the judges in the Court of Queen’s Bench returned after their adjournment for luncheon, the smell of foul air which had not a chance of getting away was horrible; and Dr Stephens, who had not been well, very soon succumbed under it, and had to be removed in a fainting condition.’

Young Solicitors ‘Let’s Do Something About It’

One of the (young solicitors) sub-committees is looking at the future of the profession. There was a strong feeling that this subject was far too important to be left only to the more elderly members of the profession: How often have we heard solicitors saying that the present state of affairs ‘will see me out’, ‘I’ve done very well out of it, why change now?’, or ‘Don’t rock the boat’.

If I felt that the present system would ‘see me out’ I might well make the same self-satisfied remarks as they do, but many solicitors are very much aware of the problems that are likely to affect them, not this year or next year, but in five, 10, 15 or 20 years.

It is only if the problems of the future can be anticipated many years ahead that they can be dealt with adequately. We must ensure that decisions are taken now so that we still have a vibrant profession when we come up to retirement age.

This is one area where the interests of young solicitors do not necessarily correspond with the interests of the senior members of the profession. It is in our interest to think about change, investigate new ideas, consider the future environment of the legal profession and so on.

Those areas of further investigation which the sub-committee considers should be studied include: charging on a contingency fee basis; advertising; the role of the Law Society; and what can be done to reverse the present situation where accountants have become the major advisers to control British industry.