Mostly Guilty: A low-flying barrister’s working life

by Michael Challinger

'Mostly Guilty' deals with the workings of the lowest level of the Australian legal system. It’s about the down-to-earth cases that happen daily in Magistrates’ Courts. It does so through the experiences and anecdotes of a low-flying criminal barrister. While the cases are from Victoria, the book makes reference to other states and has relevance and interest Australia-wide. The style is light, punchy and informal, with lots of direct speech and many funny yarns. Some of the book is tongue-in-cheek (and even politically incorrect) but it also makes serious points throughout. It’s the opposite of stodgy and is written for the general reader, more than for lawyers.
About the author: Michael Challinger still practises as a criminal barrister at the Melbourne Bar. He spent eight years as a lawyer in Papua New Guinea and also practised in London. He’s a music lover and keen traveller, having visited more than 120 countries. He lives in Melbourne.

Genres: Nonfiction

304 pages, Paperback

Published February 2, 2021

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

A highly amusing read. I could only read a few pages at the time, as I howled with laughter after virtually every vignette. However, towards the end of the work, the work takes a more sober tone as the author reflects upon and is critical of the people whom he represents - in many instances they are essentially they are individuals who refuse to take responsibility for their behaviour, recognise that actions have consequences, and consider the needs of others. This work is highly recommended.

[John Gough · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael Challinger has drawn on his long career in law, in Australia and in Papua New Guinea, representing relatively low-level (alleged) criminals in magistrate's courts, ensuring that they get the best defence possible.
In many cases, such as the first in the book, the best defence, the only practical defence, is to plead guilty, and hope for leniency from a magistrate (referred to affectionately by barristers as "mago", sounding like "madge-oh") who will appreciate that the court's time is not being wasted. With CCTV footage showing what the (alleged) criminal did, who needs human witnesses? Guilty as charged, your honour!
Challinger has a keen ear for the vernacular and vulgarity of his clients - typically opportunistic lower-class Australians looking for easy pickings, or a bit of casual mayhem - often drunk, or drugged, or both. He also has a sympathy for their struggles to make an honest living, or even just to make a half-decent go at life.
The stories Challinger uses to illustrate the diversity of the (alleged) criminals and their (alleged) crimes are often hilarious - in themselves, and in Challinger's wry choice of words.
But behind the hilarity there is sympathy for the sadness of lives that have hit rock-bottom.
Challinger also notes, especially towards the end, the practical changes, reforms, and alternatives that he argues could improve Australia's magistrates' courts, and the dealing out of justice to the sad cases he encounters.
Beyond the Rumpolian humour, and the Dickensian pathos, there are serious issues to reflect on.
"Mostly Guilty" is very highly recommended!
So are Challinger's other books: his Maugham-like short story collection "Port Moresby Mixed Doubles"; his farcical Papua New Guinea novel "Shoreline"; and his non-fiction books on historic Magistrates' Courts around Victoria, and the true-life stories of ANZACs, Australian soldiers, who volunteered and fought an almost forgotten war around Murmansk, battling the Red Army, at the end of the First World War.

[John O'Brien · Rating 5 out of 5]

Self-described low-flying Melbourne barrister Michael Challinger's autobiographical account of life at the coalface of everyday legal practice is unique. He writes as an advocate in the country's most heavily worked courts, the Magistrates Courts, which handle ninety per cent of all legal matters that come before courts across the country.

It is unlike any other account by a lawyer of his life in the law among the many, I have read during forty-eight years in practice for two reasons. First, it is written by an accomplished writer who incidentally is also a barrister, and second, it is entirely devoid of pretension. Challinger draws no attention to himself, nor does he claim any notable achievement. He tells it as it is.

The author enlightens as he entertains, and as the book assumes a darker and more severe complexion, the reader realises that the author has something important to say that he expects to be heard. The reader realises too late that he has been trapped and has no choice other than to take his place with the author in the courtroom.

Challinger does not shirk from saying what he thinks. Still, his innate sense of humour, extensive experience, and skill as a wordsmith lend the book credibility and readability as a serious social commentary on our times and some of the serious shortcomings of the legal system that remain in the third decade of the twenty-first century.

It should be compulsory reading for law students at universities, the respective colleges of law and young lawyers about to embark on the first voyage of their legal lives.

Challinger's message is simple, 'This is how it really is, girls and boys!'

[Jasmine · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was published in 2021.

These are actual quotes from the book.

“George Orwell once drew up a table of national characteristics as portrayed in English boys’ magazines (‘Spaniard, Mexican: sinister, treacherous’, ‘Negro: comic, very faithful’ etc). A barrister of my acquaintance has done the same from a forensic viewpoint. Here are his preliminary findings:
Chinese: obsessed with saving face. Slight problem with the Chinese gambling gene.
Greeks: incurably disputatious, though their fish and chips are pretty good.
Vietnamese: drug traffickers or plastic surgeons (unless they’re running bakeries).
Serbians: Surnames end in IC, which stands for ‘I’m Crazy’.
Jews: very law-abiding, apart from occasional multi-million dollar frauds or unlucky warehouse fires.
Pacific Islanders: two main types: violent thugs or training to be pastors.”

“Chinese can be annoying too, though in a different way… They treat Legal Aid as their automatic right “The government is paying you” they say. They demand Rolls-Royce treatment – and outcomes.”

“The client, Teddy Azarian, is of Armenian descent. I don’t like the sound of that: I’ve only done work once for Armenians and they ended up not paying.”

[Jacquelyn Parnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael is one of the greats of the Victorian Bar. I’ve been privileged enough to work alongside him as a solicitor. This is a book full of unfiltered stories from working in the law - many of which I could relate to. Highly recommend Mostly Guilty for anyone with an interest in the law.

[Lucy Bloom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love me a book full of professional horror stories!

[Elisabeth Bee · Rating 2 out of 5]

bit racist and misogynistic