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23 September 2022 / Michael Zander KC
Issue: 7995 / Categories: Features , Profession , Human rights , International justice
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Book review: The Mandela Brief

"One feels that one is experiencing some of the horror of living under an evil regime and what it takes to oppose such a regime as a lawyer."
  • Author: Thomas Grant KC
  • Publisher: John Murray Press
  • ISBN: 9781529372861
  • RRP: £25

Most conscious lawyers will know of Sir Sydney Kentridge SC KC—doyen of the South African and the English Bar, widely regarded as the greatest advocate of our time, now approaching his hundredth birthday. Many will know that he played an important role in the battles against the South African apartheid regime and that he represented Nelson Mandela in the famous Treason Trial. But few will know much, if anything, about the detailed history of those battles. Thomas Grant KC has performed a real service by enabling us to get a vivid sense of some of Kentridge’s most important cases, including riveting passages of verbatim extracts from transcripts. We get to see a great lawyer at work in deeply troubling times.

After 20 pages about Kentridge’s

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Bell Yard Kysen—Liz Giles

Bell Yard Kysen—Liz Giles

Bell Yard Kysen appoints senior legal PR and ex-government communications adviser, Liz Giles

Clarke Willmott—Lee Edwards

Clarke Willmott—Lee Edwards

Clarke Willmott boosts Southampton commercial property team with addition of partner Lee Edwards

Lime Solicitors—four promotions

Lime Solicitors—four promotions

Lime Solicitors announces four promotions

NEWS
The Attorney General, Ellie Reeves KC MP, and Solicitor General, Andy Slaughter KC MP, marked the 25th anniversary of Pro Bono Week by joining lawyers, charities, students and parliamentarians at events celebrating voluntary legal work
Witness evidence can be compromised by AI before a solicitor sees the draft, leaving safeguards focused on authorship incomplete
Possession claims are entering a new digital era, with procedural traps awaiting practitioners who assume familiar rules still govern every step
A polished legal defence may owe more to artificial intelligence than legal merit—and creditors risk paying the price in delay and expense
An indemnity costs battle with a £20m gap could reopen an important question: what weight should an approved budget carry?
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