​MJBQC: A Life Within and Without the Law

This is the autobiography of a leading barrister. Michael Beloff was educated at Eton and Oxford, where he was president of the Oxford Union. Called to the bar at Gray’s Inn, he later became a bencher and was treasurer for 2008. From 1995 until 2014 he was a member of the Jersey Court of Appeal and the Guernsey Court of Appeal, and senior ordinary appeal judge for six years.

Beloff has had a significant career in the field of sports law. He sits on the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which deals with disputes including doping offences on behalf of the International Olympic Committee. There are interesting explanations given for positive drugs tests for athletes, including the effects of energetic sex and steroids for some reason added to bolognaise sauce. 

The book gives an impression of a convivial and loyal friend. Beloff says he only drank alcohol once and was similarly late to court just once. His advocacy includes trying, unsuccessfully, to persuade the court that ‘here’ meant ‘there’. He remembers acting for in-house lawyers at a tobacco company who were given free cigarettes instead of bonuses. I wonder if that would be allowed now?

There are many other anecdotes, including an allegation that a party to litigation had won because they had the opponent’s cross-examination strategy taken from documents removed from chambers dustbins by ‘Benjy the Binman’.

Advocates have failures. In one case a judge decided there was nothing in the case and the barrister simply rose and said, ‘If your lordship pleases’. Apparently the judge was Sydney, Lord Templeman, sometimes known as ‘Syd Vicious’. There are comments on the importance of judicial bladders in proceedings and interesting abbreviations such as ‘TOTR’ (think of the refreshers). There are also hints at how to write an opinion. Henry Cecil, who wrote the Brothers in Law books, encouraged Beloff to put the important advice first and then explain why. There is also an explanation of ‘with respect, with great respect and with the greatest respect’, which is probably not new but worth repeating.

My only reservation is there are too many name-drops, but overall this is an interesting biography of a leading member of the bar.

David Pickup is a partner at Pickup & Scott Solicitors, Aylesbury