How can you speak up for someone accused of a savage murder?

Or sway a jury?

Or get a judge to drop a case?

"Gripping' - The Times

In this vivid memoir, England's most experienced murder case lawyer revisits his most notorious trials, from the murder of TV presenter Jill Dando, to the man given life because of an earprint, and the first British prosecution for Nazi war crimes.

All the while William Clegg lays bare the secrets of his profession, from the rivalry among barristers to the nervous moments before a verdict comes back — and how our right to a fair trial is at risk.

Under the Wig is for anyone who wants to know the reality of a murder trial. Switch off the TV dramas and plunge into the criminal law in action.

Well-known cases featured:

The Murder of Rachel Nickell on Wimbledon Common

The Chillenden Murders (Dr Lin and Megan Russell)

The Trial of Private Lee Clegg

The Murder of Jill Dando

The first Nazi war crimes prosecution in the UK

The Murder of Joanna Yeates

The Rebekah Brooks Phone Hacking Trial

A barrister for 47 years, William Clegg QC has been the go-to lawyer for complex murder and fraud cases for decades. He is head of chambers at 2 Bedford Row, one of the four leading criminal sets in London.

REVIEWS

'Countless veteran lawyers have produced page-tuners based in the fictional world of law, but in Under the Wig William Clegg, QC, has distilled his extraordinary life in the criminal courtroom into a yarn equally as gripping.'

— The Times of London

'Eloquent and riveting... by one of the country's leading murder case defence lawyers'

— Sunday Express

'This is a gripping memoir from one of our country's greatest jury advocates, offering a fascinating, no-holds-barred tour behind the scenes of some of the most famous criminal cases of modern times.'

— The Secret Barrister, English law blogger

'One of England's best barristers provides a fascinating sometimes hilarious combination of a personal odyssey and insider accounts of the most important and famous court cases of recent times.'

— Bob Marshall-Andrews QC, barrister

'Bill Clegg's memoir draws on some of the most high-profile criminal prosecutions of recent years to illuminate the career of a defence lawyer at the peak of his success... Unforgettable'

— Joshua Rozenberg, BBC legal commentator