BOOK REVIEW: The Savage Poodle

Richard Barr is a clinical negligence lawyer with more than 45 years’ experience who is now a consultant at Scott-Moncrieff & Associates. He has been involved in a number of high-profile cases, including claims arising from the Gulf War, MMR vaccinations and the agricultural use of organophosphates.

How time flies! This books takes me back to the age when dinosaurs roamed the earth, solicitors had secretaries and clerks, and law was an easier route to acclaim and riches. Barr was well-known as a regular columnist for the now defunct Solicitors Journal and this book is a collection of diverse articles he has written over many years.

Look no further for an honest account of the ups and downs of a high street solicitor’s career. The trivia of a lawyer’s day, losing files, going on holiday (remember the world before IT?) are all here. How did people manage without clients being able to text and email them every few minutes when away on the Costa Brava?

These are diverting articles on a possible haunting, Post Dogmatic Cat Disorder and some innovations such as Murphy’s Law, Coles Law and Basset Law. In addition, there is information on how to recruit and grow old(er). An enticing reference to lingerie could perhaps be covered (sic) in more detail in another edition – or perhaps not. 

We need more books like this.

David Pickup is a partner at Aylesbury-based Pickup and Scott