Memoirs of a Barrister

362 Pages·2000·1.604 MB·English

by  Jack Elliot

JAC K E L L I O T T
These memoirs have not been written to eulogise the law or lawyers, judges or the
legal system itself but to publish the reality of it. They recall actual cases, the different
legal personalities involved in them, the difficulties and dissatisfactions of practising
the law, and personal triumphs and failures. To any person who may read this
book I give only one assurance. It is all true. And I hope when the reader puts the
book down he or she will perceive that without the rule of law, however imperfect,
no civilisation can endure. <
ack Elliott entered the Adelaide legal scene in 1933 at the age
of eighteen, articled to his elder brother and earning his wages by
collecting debts for the Motor Credit Company. By the time he retired
from the Bar a queen’s counsel nearly five decades later, he had
earned a reputation as one of the best barristers South Australia has seen.
‘Is it a presumption to strive for human justice when there is none in
life itself?’ he asks in a philosophical moment in Memoirs of a Barrister. As a
man of conscience – an early strong believer in the Law Society’s Legal
Assistance Scheme and a propounder of socialist ideals, although
determinedly apolitical in the party sense – Jack found much to wonder about
in the mysterious workings of the law. His reflections on changes, good and
bad, in the administration of justice over sixty years will intrigue modern
readers, and no doubt raise some hackles.
Mostly, however, Jack Elliott’s memoirs present a colourful, fast-moving
procession of characters and cases from his perspective as (mainly) a
barrister for the defence. His book is bursting with notorious trials and well-
known legal figures, all described in the inimitable style of a participant who
was rarely swayed by modish opinion or seduced by the trappings of status.
In the end Jack Elliott’s memoirs, despite doubts about the eroding of
the legal traditions, are a testament to his belief that ‘the sense of justice
is sacred. It should never be ignored or compromised’.
ISBN 1-86254-522-7
9 781862 545229
Cover design by Lahn Stafford Design
Memoirs
of a barrister
Jack Elliott

Memoirs
of a barrister
Jack Elliott
Wakefield Press
17 Rundle Street
Kent Town
South Australia 5067
Copyright © Jack Elliott, 2000
All rights reserved. This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing
for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted
under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced without written
permission. Enquiries should be addressed to the publisher.
Cover designed by Dean Lahn, Lahn Stafford Design
Text pages designed and typeset by Clinton Ellicott, Wakefield Press
Printed and bound by Hyde Park Press
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-publication entry
Elliott, Jack, 1914– .
Memoirs of a barrister.
Includes index.
ISBN 1 86254 522 7 (pbk).
ISBN 1 86254 532 4 (hbk).
1. Elliott, Jack, 1914– . 2. Lawyers–South Australia–Biography.
I. Title.
340.092
Promotion of this book has been assisted
by the South Australian Government
through Arts South Australia.
Publication of this book was assisted by the
Commonwealth Government through the
Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.
To the memory of my grandson
Joshua and for his sisters
Naomi and Heloise and his
brother David.
Acknowledgment
To Charles Anthony Lempriere Abbott and Charles Samuel Lempriere Abbott
of the firm Lempriere Abbott & McLeod for their valued assistance in
checking the text of this book and promoting its publication.
Publisher’s note
Wakefield Press thanks the Law Society of South Australia, Edmund Barton
Chambers, Adelaide, and the Institute of Justice Studies, South Australia,
for their assistance in the publication of this book.
Contents
Preface
ix
1 University days
1
2 First year in practice
16
3 War clouds gather
33
4 Cases proceed despite war
51
5 The firm is dismantled
64
6 Practice resumes
75
7 Unusual events and cases
91
8 My brother Keith dies
105
9 More cases
121
10 Death of a great lawyer and an
awful shock to another
140
11 I try prosecuting
161
12 Before the Privy Council
180
13 The legal scene continues to change
194
14 How I became a Queen’s Counsel
208
15 Before the medical board and other cases
221
16 My close friend is charged
241
17 Another tragic death and a year abroad
253
18 Return to the courts
271
19 I decline a seat on the District Court
282
20 My brother Don dies
296
21 Practice begins to pall
306
22 Saga of the Splatt case
319
Epilogue
339