entirely negative. Not so now. Sydney ended the con “I tell you what we should do, we should write the other side a letter.” Quite what this was likely to achieve was never identified. Yet Sydney’s magic was such that this new tactic had the effect that everyone, including Edwardes, left the meeting upbeat, convinced that a new and effective strategy had been formulated. Roger Buckley went on the bench in 1989 and Nick Lyell ceased practice on becoming a minister in the Thatcher government. Hilary Heilbron had taken silk in in 1987 and Jonathan Hirst in 1990. Tony Jolowicz became an honorary silk at the same time as Hirst. John Griffiths, who spent much of his career in Hong Kong and was Attorney General of Hong Kong 1979–83, joined. Griffiths was a wonderful advocate but might have been even more effective had he spent time reading the papers. David Anderson was another significant joiner after pupillage. Mark Hapgood, who edited Paget on Banking, joined from other chambers as did David Lloyd Jones. William Wood did too, but only just.
Left to Right: Professor Jolowicz and Jonathan Hirst taking silk with Burley (left) and Simon Perry, 1990
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