Tax lawyer Jolyon and his band of disbarred “top barristers” hit headlines at the end of last week for the announcement that they would refuse to prosecute eco-activists, even though they couldn’t have done so anyway. Actively refusing a client requires that an important professional principle for barristers, called the cab rank rule, is ignored. Jolyon himself previously said “It exists to protect the principle that everyone is entitled to a fair trial”. Presumably “everyone” now excludes the people Jolyon disagrees with…

In a blog post from 2015, Maugham cited the cab rank rule as the reason he could defend tax avoiders, which he admits makes up the “vast majority” of his client base, in clear conscience:

“That rule obliges me to accept such instructions as I am offered. It exists to protect the principle that everyone is entitled to a fair trial. And although the operation of the cab rank rule is (in practice) easy to escape, it’s an important rule and I have never sought to escape it.”

He was happy to stick to the rule to offer tax avoiders a fair trial for years yet is now all too eager to ignore it to help environmental extremists off the hook. At least we know where his priorities lie.

Jolyon’s fellow barristers haven’t exactly rushed to his defence either. A co-conspirator gets in touch to share this image of a LinkedIn post from a fellow KC:

With m’learned friends like these who need enemies…