header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us

Here to act, not to judge

© Copyright LexisNexis 2025. All Rights Reserved.
05 November 2021 / Theo Huckle KC
Issue: 7955 / Categories: Opinion , Profession
printer mail-detail
62971
In the first of a special two-part series, Theo Huckle QC explains how the talking-down of lawyers over many years shows a serious lack of leadership in public debate

I recently read a piece in a very well-known political/current affairs journal in which the commentator seemed to me to be implying that our lawyer colleagues should exercise more moral (moralising?) judgement about the cases they are prepared to take on, and they don’t do it enough, but that, nevertheless, ‘better the Devil you know’ with lawyers as we have them (Prospect, ‘Should a lawyer ever refuse to act in an unpleasant case?’, David Allen Green, April 2021). The piece left me with a deep sense of unease, and I thought it reflected the present parlous state of thought leadership about our justice system and the way that lawyers work within it and should do. How opinion-formers such as the readers of the journal in question view the legal system and professions matters to what happens

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Mourant—Stephen Alexander

Mourant—Stephen Alexander

Jersey litigation lead appointed to global STEP Council

mfg Solicitors—nine trainees

mfg Solicitors—nine trainees

Firm invests in future talent with new training cohort

NEWS
Read All
NLJ this week: Traders’ convictions quashed in Libor shock
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
NLJ this week: Small firms call for tech clarity as AI looms
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
NLJ this week: Trans pool player loses discrimination fight
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
NLJ this week: Pro bono power without the red tape
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
NLJ this week: Fraud claims climb as courts brace for AI threats
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
Copyright © 2025 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll