InBrief

Members are invited to the launch of Lawyers Then and Now: An Australian Legal Miscellany, by the Hon Keith Mason AC QC, which will be held in the Common Room on Thursday, 29 November from 5.30-7.30pm. The Hon A M Gleeson AC will launch the book. This vastly entertaining book will fascinate lawyers with its true tales from Australian law. Keith Mason uses wit and humour, and considerable erudition, to paint an entertaining, engrossing picture of the people of the law, its history and the cases which have occurred.

The book has chapters on law’s interface with religion, art, sport, gambling and literature. Mason finds amusement and truth in the quirkiness of the law and the humanity of its people. "Then and now" in the title points to the recurring constancies and changes in Australian legal culture while the final chapter "Fallible All" recapitulates the theme that lawyers are far from perfect even as (most of them) struggle to perform at their best. Readers will discover:

• who was Australia’s youngest judge,
• instances of extreme rudeness in court and between judges, humour of all sorts,
• which judges served the longest and shortest terms in office,
• the barriers facing women who wanted to practise law and when they were scaled,
• which judge was tried and acquitted of murder and which law officer was convicted of murder and sentenced to hang.Special launch price available on the night only $50.00 (rrp $59.95)21 November 2012