This section of the Blog comprises legal episodes: narratives that delve into the approaches of the parties involved, the manoeuvrings of counsel, the often-unseen tensions behind legal conflicts and the eventual settlement or decision. They range from brief encounters set out as short stories to novella-length accounts. But there is a common thread: the illumination of the human side of legal disputes. Some of the cases here narrated are fictitious. Others comprise the most interesting episodes I have encountered during my long odyssey as an academic lawyer and legal practitioner. There were, of course, many other thought-provoking matters I tackled. They are not narrated by me in view of their highly technical nature. An ordinary reader might be uninterested in the tactical skills which went into preparing them for hearings. Fellow lawyers may shrug them off because they may consider them run of the mill. Notably, my first brush with the legal world took place during my schooldays, in a mock trial of Josephus Flavius – an event revisited in the novella: Reunion in Zermatt. In many ways, this has remained my most interesting experience.
The Luck of Valentino
Tel Aviv, 1956