AROUND TOWN: What I learned from Rumpole — and his creator

By William S. Greenberg Special to The Packet
    Sir John Mortimer, who passed away in January, leaves a great legal and literary legacy. A barrister who championed civil rights, a adept playwright and a versatile author of commentary and fiction, Sir John was far more than the creator of “Rumpole of the Bailey.”
    I had the privilege of meeting him at book signings at Patchard’s, the venerable London bookstore, where he graciously signed his works and conversed with his admirers.
    Never averse to a polite disagreement, when I brought up the subject of our Constitution, Mr. Mortimer asked me how I squared the Bill of Rights with the practice of rendition, by which the U.S. government handed prisoners over to the custody of foreign governments less fastidious in their respect for human rights.
    I declined to engage in a debate with one who seemed, despite his age and infirmity, possessed of vast knowledge and great mental acuity.
    Mr. Mortimer was proud of the Rumpole character, which he rightly believed to have achieved a stature comparable to that of Sherlock Holmes, and also proud of the utility of Rumpole and his other fiction in conveying his views on civil rights and other social issues. These would never have reached so broad an audience if they had been published in the drier or more polemical form of an essay or column.
    What are the lessons of Rumpole for lawyers? Never forget the humanity of clients, witnesses and even judges.
    Rumpole, who suffered from the nagging fear of incarceration and slopping out, devoted extraordinary zeal to the defense and lived by the maxim of “never plead guilty.”
    Rumpole also knew that bearing in mind the feelings and foibles of witnesses, learned friends, jurors and judges helped him to obtain acquittals. That is wisdom all attorneys should practice. Never assume. Always investigate. Not every case is won by solving a mystery or noticing what others have not (the theme of many a Rumpole tale).
    Like Rumpole, I have often found that the real answer lies outside of the brief you are handed and must be unearthed by investigation.
    Rumpole offers practical lessons in trial craft, as well. A witness whose testimony is unshakeable and likely to be believed should be cultivated on cross examination, not ineffectually attacked, and led to yield a helpful fact or two that can be synthesized at closing into the story of your case.
    Where testimony was vulnerable, Rumpole was generally careful to force the prosecution’s witnesses to commit absolutely to a position before unveiling the evidence that disproved it.
    Famous for his knowledge of blood stains and the unique characteristics of the typefaces produced by different models of typewriters, Rumpole tells us we can’t know too much about the details and that it can be fatal to rely on experts.
    Mr. Mortimer offers much to a broader audience. He deftly portrays English society, its lingering class and ethnic prejudices, diffident customs and enduring pleasures. His economical yet evocative descriptions of London often come to mind when I visit.
    Most of all, reading his work is one of the great civilized pleasures. It is a blessing that he produced such a large and enduring opus.
Princeton resident William S. Greenberg, a partner in the law firm of McCarter & English, has been litigating cases for four decades.