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While "Under the Wig" may be most appealing to readers interested in law or criminal justice, I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a well-written memoir. The book is informative, engaging, and emotionally resonant, and it's not hard to see why it has received such high praise.
Several prominent barristers, including Matthew Scott and Bob Marshall-Andrews QC, have said Under the Wig is a "must read" for anyone with an interest in the criminal law. Switch off the TV dramas and see real criminal law in action. BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION. Although Clegg mostly represents individuals, the QC also advises multinational companies on criminal law. Providing certain conditions are met, a company can be prosecuted and fined like any human defendant in the criminal courts. Most cases involve bribery and corruption HELEN HODGSON. In the 1970s and 1980s defendants often retract 'confessions' after they have been charged. In 1985, the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) tightens police rules. Clegg mounts an appeal for Cherie McGovern, convicted of murdering a woman in a grisly case involving communal living
Book review: Under the Wig
William Clegg QC is a typical barrister in the sense that he fiercely upholds the right of everyone, however heinous the crime of which they are accused, to have a fair trial and be properly convicted on the evidence – or acquitted if the prosecution has failed to prove its case. But he is different in that he doesn’t conform to the (perhaps rather clichéd) assumption that all “top barristers” must have been to public school and Oxford or Cambridge before strolling into their dad’s chambers, bursting with entitlement and clutching a handed-down wig and gown. Under the Wig is a memoir of a famous British barrister, William Clegg, whose 40 years experience in criminal law includes defending clients in more than 100 murder trials. This read like a memoir in part, as we follow William Clegg QC he starts his career in law, eventually leading to him ‘taking the silk’ and becoming a barrister and head of chambers. Interspersed between this are the stories of some of his most memorable cases in the world of murder, fraud and war criminals. I liked this method of writing, because it broke up would could have been an otherwise ‘dry’ subject with injections of humour, compassion and humility. Law is so complicated, and the book needed this touch of ‘down to earth’ to appeal to a wider audience. Missing are detailed pen portraits of fellow advocates, but that would have missed the point of a book which sets out unambiguously to demystify and to inform. It will serve equally well for any would-be lawyers, who, like the author and many of us, did not have any inside legal connections before we began. Absorb with joy the advice on how to appeal to a jury and remember it. Cherish equally how to win the trust of a judge. William Clegg has worked on some very high profile cases and it was really interesting to hear about them from a defence barrister’s perspective. He gives his opinion on the outcome of each particular case in the course of a chapter and I really appreciated that. He covers cases such as the murder of Jill Dando, where he worked on Barry George’s appeal. We also get to see how it is for a barrister to work for a man who has confessed to manslaughter such as in the case of Vincent Tabak (who was convicted of murdering Joanna Yeates at Christmas 2010).
Between such serious case studies, his jovial memoir reflects on the challenges and satisfactions of life as a barrister.' - Daily Mail What a lawyer is. A lawyer is any person with a law degree who has been called to the bar. A solicitor is the person who will give advice and prepare a case up until court proceedings, solicitors do not represent you usually in court. A solicitor-advocate may represent you in court, but more generally this is what a barrister does. A barrister cannot be instructed by a client but only by the solicitor who prepares your case. He may give advice but more usually he will represent you in court.PRIVATE CLIENTS. Clegg takes on private clients, often pre-charge. 'If I feel that the police case is weak I may make representations to the Crown Prosecution Service arguing that the evidence against my client, as disclosed to me, does not meet the threshold required for charging.' THE MURDER OF JOANNA YATES. The 25-year-old landscape gardener and her boyfriend Greg Reardon shared a flat in a Victorian house on Canynge Road in Clifton, Bristol. She disappeared in Christmas 2010. Clegg represents the neighbour accused of murdering her, the Dutch national Vincent Tabak
TRYING TIME FOR LEGAL AID. The criminal justice system in England and Wales has been battered by a decade of government cuts. Fed up with the fall in fees and the inability to hire expert witnesses he has worked with for years, Clegg declines to take any more public-funded cases If you are an American you won't know what a barrister is, nor what 'taking silk' means, so some definitions first., in spoilers so you can skip them if you are from the UK. In addition to his legal experiences, Clegg also writes about his personal life, including his struggles with depression and anxiety. These personal anecdotes bring a humanizing touch to the book and make it more than just a dry exploration of the law.The thought that an innocent man may be incarcerated for the rest of their life because I have failed to expose the weakness in the case against him means I don’t sleep at all well at night. It is a worry that gnaws. This was the case with the man who was missing his dog.” How can you speak up for someone accused of a savage murder? Or sway a jury? Or get a judge to drop a case? MUTINY AT 3 HARE COURT. Inside barristers chambers in London a revolt brews against a hard-drinking head clerk. The leading chambers in the 1970s is 5 King's Bench Walk, 6 Kings Bench Walk, and Queen Elizabeth Buildings. A new set is established, headed by a personal injury silk, Michael Lewis QC
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