Nothing But The Truth: The Memoir of an Unlikely Lawyer

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Description

A memoir full of hilarious, personal and surprising stories from their working life, this is the brilliant Secret Barrister at their very best. __________ Just how do you become a barrister Why do only 1 per cent of those who study law succeed in joining this mysteriously opaque profession And why might a practising barrister come to feel the need to reveal the lies, secrets, failures and crises at the heart of this world of wigs and gowns Nothing But The Truth charts an outsider's progress down the winding path towards practising at the Bar, taking in the sometimes absurd traditions of the Inns of Court, where every meal mandates a glass of port and a toast to the Queen, to the Hunger Games-type contest for pupillage, through the endlessly frustrating experience of being a junior barrister - as a creaking, ailing justice system begins to convince them that something has to change . . . Full of hilarious, shocking and surprising stories, Nothing But The Truth tracks the Secret Barrister's transformation from hang 'em and flog 'em, austerity-supporting twenty-something to campaigning, bestselling, reforming author whose writing in defence of the law is celebrated around the globe. It asks questions about what we understand by justice, and what it takes to change our minds. It also reveals the darker side of working in criminal law, and how the things our justice system gets wrong are not the things most people expect. __________ PRAISE FOR THE SECRET BARRISTER: 'Dishes the dirt - or serves up a slice of reality - on what barristers do' - The Times 'An illuminating and timely insight into the legal system . . . fascinating' - Sunday Express 'Excellent . . . at once a vicious polemic, a helpful primer and a cringe-inducing account of one barrister's travails' - Daily Telegraph

Reviews

Entertaining and instructive . . . A gifted writer . . . The Secret Barrister's picaresque journey to barristerhood is served up with large helpings of humour * The Times *
Wonderful and insightful . . . With compassion, wit and intelligence, the Secret Barrister shows why is it that any of us plunge into the harrowing depths of criminal law * TLS *
Excellent . . . at once a vicious polemic, a helpful primer and a cringe-inducing account of one barristers travails * Telegraph *
As entertaining as ever in this third foray into the courtroom * Radio Times *
Eye-opening. The candour is, at times, breathtaking . . . it is both human and urgent . . . A no-holds-barred book that tells an unvarnished story of a broken system an the people who hold it together * Law Society's Gazette *
As compelling and illuminating - and as full of gob-smacking stories - as its predecessors, it is also fascinatingly personal. Anyone thinking of a career in the law should certainly read it * Bookseller *

Author Bio

The Secret Barrister is a junior barrister specializing in criminal law, and the author of the award-winning blog of the same name. The Secret Barrister writes for many publications, including The Times, the Guardian, New Statesman, iNews, Esquire and Counsel magazine. In 2016 and 2017, the Secret Barrister was named Independent Blogger of the Year at the Editorial Intelligence Comment Awards. In 2018, the Secret Barrister was named Legal Personality of the Year at the Law Society Awards. Their first book, The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It's Broken, was a Sunday Times number-one bestseller and was in the top-ten bestseller list for more than a year. It won the Books Are My Bag Non-Fiction Award 2018, and was shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year and the Specsavers Non-Fiction Book of the Year 2018. Their second book, Fake Law, was published in 2020 and was an instant Sunday Times bestseller.