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**A SUNDAY TIMES PAPERBACK OF THE YEAR
**
'A thoughtful, elegant book. ... often as thrilling as a detective
novel. ' - Thomas Grant, QC The Times.
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Sarah Langford is a barrister. Her job is to stand in court representing
the mad and the bad, the vulnerable, the heartbroken and the hopeful.
She must become their voice: weave their story around the black and
white of the law and tell it to the courtroom. These stories may not
make headlines but they will change the lives of ordinary people in
extraordinary ways. They are stories which, but for a twist of luck,
might have been yours.
To work at the Bar is to enter a world shrouded by strange clothing,
archaic rituals and inaccessible language. So how does it feel to be an
instrument of such an unknowable system? And what does it mean to be at
its mercy? Our legal system promises us justice, impartiality and fair
judgement. Does it, or can it, deliver this?
With remarkable candour, Sarah describes eleven cases which reveal what
goes on in our criminal and family courts. She examines how she feels as
she defends the person standing in the dock. She tells compelling
stories - of domestic fall out, everyday burglary, sexual indiscretion,
and children caught up in the law - that are sometimes shocking and
often heart-stopping. She shows us how our attitudes and actions can
shape not only the outcome of a case, but the legal system itself.
