Book description
Len Murray, described by a High Court judge as the most respected
pleader of his generation, practised as a solicitor in Glasgow for
over 40 years. As part of a triumvirate of top lawyers based in the
city during its period of renaissance, he built up one of the most
respected law practices in the country.
Among the benchmark cases with which Murray was involved was that of
Tony Miller, one of the last people to be hanged in Scotland. Despite
a desperate appeal by Murray, the 19-year-old was sent to his death on
22 December 1960. In his candid account Murray describes both the
legal arguments and the personal effect the case had on him.
Murray was also involved in bringing the Nazi war criminal Antanas
Gecas to justice after his discovery in Edinburgh, he was the only
solicitor ever to be retained by both Rangers and Celtic footballers
who were accused of assaulting each other during a match at Ibrox, and
he made a cheeky defence of famous Beatle Paul McCartney who was
arrested on drugs charges. The Pleader recounts these and many more
tales of the courts and the characters who inhabited them, whether
they sat on the bench or stood in the dock.
Reluctant to go public until now, Murray has always upheld the
simple tenet that client confidentiality is paramount. His decision to
publish his memoirs at this time reflects a feeling that he has a
responsibility to new students of law and to old friends to put the
record straight on many of the fascinating stories to come before the
Scottish courts. From the simplest of violations to the most serious
of capital crimes, he opens his amazing and hitherto secret files to
the world.
Although he retired from legal practice in the late 1990s, Len Murray
still acts as a consultant to his former firm. Having forsaken the gown
and the well of the court, he has become one of the country's most
highly regarded after-dinner speakers.
