The ups and downs of the working life of a barrister isn't perhaps all you might expect it to be. Even for the barrister...

Excellent

I was looking forward to reading Dirty Briefs by "anonymous" but unfortunately it just wasn't as good or interesting as I expected. I can't recommend this book unfortunately

The book is OK. Some of it is good, other parts are crude and not really something I want to be reading about. Sure it will appeal to some but not me I'm afraid.

An interesting read and insight especially at a time when junior barristers are striking over poor pay and conditions.

I got more interested in lawyers and barristers while watching johnny deep vs amber head because I've watched the live trial in YouTube and after the live trial, I've watched comments with layers in YouTube yeah, this book gives us one insight what is on the other side of the mirror… barristers are still human…

I was expecting more of satirical stories, but maybe i dint understand enough of what was being talked about to find it funny, so i will say it is my fault and give this book a full 3 stars and say that probably you’ll like it more than me…

thank you NetGalley for the free ARC and this is my honest opinion.

I can’t recommend it highly enough! It’s hilarious and so interesting. I’ve learnt new things about how the criminal justice system worked that I never knew before, and I was laughing out loud at some of the cases he dealt with, and how he dealt with them, some of them beg belief. 10/10 would recommend to all

This anonymously written book absolutely wrecks The Secret Barrister. Written in a far more accessible way, this book is reminiscent of Adam Kay’s This is Going to Hurt or other similar books.

The Good
This book is absolutely hilarious. A particular part that jumps to mind is when Fendem learns that in Crown Court, if you aren’t dressed properly the judge will feign deafness. His internal monologue upon learning this – quite rightly – was wanting to say “Can you hear me now you miserable old cunt?”. If you dislike swearing this probably isn’t one for you but if you want to see horse shit called horse shit then this is something you’d probably quite like.

Fendem does not pull punches on the failings of the justice system, and does so in a way that’s accessible, informative, and still funny as hell.

The Bad
About two thirds in, there’s a part where the pacing totally changes. It feels as if the book is getting ready to end, and faces with another 60 pages of that I wasn’t sure I could muster the energy to keep reading. It does pass though so I’m glad I persevered.

I read Dirty Briefs on the Kindle app on a Boox ereader and it contained a considerable number of formatting mistakes, especially relating to the start of paragraphs. As this is an advance reader copy, I am confident these will be corrected, but it would be remiss to not mention them.

Final Verdict
The Secret Barrister’s working class equivalent is hilarious and isn’t afraid to challenge what you think lawyers are like. Recommended.

I received a free copy of Dirty Briefs via NetGalley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review

Having known several barristers and solicitors, I was curious about this title and expecting a humourous if not slightly strange love letter to the legal profession.

Well... it's certainly strange. Whether that counts against it I am not entirely sure.
It's entertaining for the most part, although some descriptions are lengthy, unpleasant and wholely unecessary.

It's irreverant but it does show the less glamourous side of such a time honoured career, steeped in long forgotton tradtion.

Before i even started to read the book the title grabbed my attention! I knew I would be in for some laugh out loud moments and I wasn't disappointed! It's an open and honest account of what he got in to during his career and its not censored! Great easy read.

As an former criminal lawyer the stories brought back many memories if only the contempt judges treat solicitor advocate with (which is only slightly less the Met Police treat police station representatives, hilarious to lock me as a young female in a cell with an alleged rapist springs to mind)

Dirty Briefs is an uncensored memoir by pseudonymous Dave Fendem on his life and career as a criminal defense and prosecuting barrister. Due out in fourth quarter 2022 from Mardle Books, it's 240 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.

This is a book filled with an exhausting abundance of puerile jollity and almost desperately clever riposte. In many ways, it's amusing in the same way that adults try not to laugh when a toddler declaims (loudly and often) some rugged Anglo-Saxon monosyllable just to get a rise out of the grown-ups in the room.

There -are- some genuinely funny moments which surprised a giggle out of me, but they were few and far between. The author pokes fun at more or less everyone. He has a stunning lack of respect for law enforcement, judges, his colleagues and opponents in court, his clients, his family, his housemates during his time reading law, and others. He declaims with pride about his sexual conquests, and all of the myriad dodgy behaviour which his facility with falsehood has mitigated or got him out of outright.

He saves a particularly virulent disdain for the majority(?) of his fellow barristers who are themselves products of a public school and upper class background in contrast to the decidedly less rarefied upbringing of the author himself. He does have moderate facility with the written word and the whole is readable and entertaining. It would possibly be a good, undemanding, travel read as long as nobody but the reader can see the page, since the book is peppered with rough language and admittedly funny/shocking/inappropriate descriptions. Decidedly and emphatically NSFW.

Three and a half stars. I'm not sure for whom the book is actually intended. Spelling, grammar, and vernacular/slang are British English but will pose no difficulties in context for readers from outside the UK.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

This is a quick and easy read which features a cooks tour of the criminal justice system as experienced by an experienced and very irreverent barrister.

This is no "Secret Barrister or indeed "Secret Magistrate" - which were serious, sharp yet amusing critiques of life in court, but instead it is a relentless series of stories - some surely apocryphal - of life at the sharp end in the crown and magistrates' court systems.

Some are funny indeed and the author is sharp and perceptive in his memories.

A quick, easy but satisfying read.

Where to start! There is such a good mix of fact and funny in this work. Career fiction is something I love and this ticks all the right boxes! It’s a bit of a slow start but once you get to know the general theme’s the author wants to highlight the better it gets! A good book for all aspiring criminal barristers, current ones and people who have been. A nice short read filled with the right mix of reality.