Alexander Martin Sullivan? Marshall Hall? Henry Harte Barry? John Chute Neligan?
Question for Quote Investigator: A popular anecdote in legal circles concerns a lawyer who was representing a client from a rural area. The judge condescendingly asked the lawyer whether the client was familiar with a legal doctrine which was identified via a pompous Latin phrase such as “Sic utere tuo ut alienum non laedas” or “Res ipsa loquitur”.
The lawyer punctured the pretension by replying, “My Lord, in the bogs of western Ireland where my client comes from, when friends are gathered together for a drink on Saturday night, they talk of nothing else.”
There are many versions of this tale. The Latin phrase, the rural location, and the sardonic reply vary. Yet, the overall template is the same. Would you please explore the provenance of this anecdote?
Reply from Quote Investigator: This tale is difficult to trace because of its variability. The earliest published match known to QI appeared in “The Yorkshire Post” of England in April 1949. The lawyer was Alexander Martin Sullivan of Ireland who held the rank of Serjeant-at-Law. The judge was unidentified. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
The Serjeant’s client, a poor illiterate Irish peasant, was claiming damages for personal injury. The Judge took the view that there were legal objections.
“Mr. Serjeant,” he protested, “has your client never heard of the maxim, volenti non fit injuria? (an injury is not done to a person who consents).
The Serjeant fixed the Judge with a steely eye.
“My Lord,” he retorted in his rich brogue, “in the village of Ballymena, from which my client comes, it is almost the sole topic of conversation.”
Interestingly, Sullivan published a memoir in 1952 within which he told a different version of this anecdote. He also disclaimed credit for the punchline. See further below.
Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.
In July 1949 “The New Zealand Law Journal” published a version of the story. The lawyer was identified as Alexander Martin Sullivan:2
The story, which will appeal at least to the common-law advocate, concerns his appearance for an Irish labourer injured at work and refused compensation. Unsuccessful in every Court, the plaintiff reached the House of Lords , where considerable argument centred round the Volenti non fit injuria doctrine. The appellant, a native of remote Ballygullion, had insisted upon being present, and had sat throughout “as expressionless as an Irish potato.”
During the third day, one of the Law Lords cut Sullivan short with: “But surely your client must be taken to have heard of the doctrine volenti non fit injuria?” “My Lord,” replied Sullivan, gravely, “in Ballygullion they talk of little else.”
Ballygullion is a fictitious town located in the historic Irish province of Ulster. It was the setting of humorous short stories by Lynn Doyle who wrote a book titled “Ballygullion” in 1908.3 However, QI has not found the anecdote under examination in the works of Lynn Doyle.
In 1952 Alexander Martin Sullivan published the memoir “The Last Serjeant” which included the anecdote. The Latin phrase and the locale differed from the tales printed in 1949. The lawyer who delivered the punchline was Henry Harte Barry and not Sullivan. The judge who employed Latin phrases was Sir John Chute Neligan, Recorder of Cork in Ireland:4
“Mr. Barry,” he said on another occasion, “has your client never heard Sic utere tuo alienum non laedas?”
“Not a day passes, your Honour, on which he does not hear it. It is the sole topic of conversation where he lives at the top of Mushera mountain,” replied old Henry Harte Barry , the doyen of Kanturk.
The citation above was not the earliest, but the two previous citations attributed the crucial line to Sullivan; hence, QI believes that the direct testimony of Sullivan has priority.
In March 1952 a review of Sullivan’s memoir appeared in the “Evening Standard” of London. The newspaper reprinted the anecdote:5
One of his stories concerns a Recorder of Cork who went in for Latin quotations.
“Mr. Barry” said the Recorder on one occasion, “has your client never heard the maxim sic utere tuo alienum non laedas?”
“Not a day passes your honour, on which he does not hear it,” replied the imperturbable counsel. “It is the sole topic of conversation where he lives at the top of Mushera Mountain.”
In 1955 George A. Johnston delivered a speech in Toronto, Canada which included an instance of the tale:6
For some reason I am reminded of the story of a case from a little country town in Ireland, which had finally reached the highest court of appeal. One of the law lords at one stage interrupted counsel to suggest: “But surely, Mr. Sullivan, your client must be familiar with the maxim, Volenti non fit injuria”. “My Lord”, counsel replied, “in Ballygullion they talk of little else”.
In 1961 an instance fo the story appeared in the “New York Law Journal” according to the reference “Quote It Completely!”:7
There was once an Irish judge trying an action in tort between two semi-literate peasants from a remote corner of County Kerry. Suddenly turning to the counsel for one of them he said: “Surely your client is aware of the principle volenti non fit injuria.” “My lord,” replied counsel with deep seriousness, “up in the mountains where my client lives they talk of little else.”
COWPER, Francis, London Letter, NYLJ, 8-28-61, p. 4.
In 1963 U.S. congressman Richard T. Hanna of California told a version of the story during a committee meeting:8
I just wanted Mr. Myers to know that his sudden recitation of the law latin, damnum absque injuria caught me about like the Irish barrister caught presenting a case for a small Irish potato farmer.
He presented opening remarks of the case, and the magistrate leaned over and he said, “Counselor, does your client realize that this case could very well involve the principle of damnum absque injuria?”
And the Irish lawyer who knew just as little as I did about the principle quickly retorted, “Your Honor, in the hills of Glenmara from whence my client comes, they speak of little else.”
In 1967 “The Record of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York” published a piece by former judge Charles S. Desmond which contained the following:9
The ancient—and sometimes annoying—judicial habit of showing off in Latin is illustrated by an Irish court story. A little Irish lawsuit was tried in an Irish county town by a learned judge from Dublin. He based his decision on what he referred to as “the well-known rule of res ipsa loquitur.” The Irish lawyer protested the decision. The judge replied—“Why, surely you and your client are familiar with res ipsa loquitur.” The lawyer replied:
“Your honor, on the bleak and rocky West coast of Ireland whence my client comes, when at the close of their daily labors, my client and his neighbors sit in front of the peat fires in the lonely thatch-roofed cottages and drink their poteen, are they familiar with res ipsa liquitur? My Lord, they talk of little else.”
In 1974 Leroy Jeffers who was the President of the State Bar of Texas told a version of the anecdote during a congressional subcommittee hearing. The setting was moved from Europe to the United States:10
. . . I could not help recall the classic remark of a legendary east Texas lawyer, very famous in these parts, who once tried a case in the unfamiliar and, he thought, somewhat hostile surroundings of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. When he had concluded his case, the judge asked him, with what he thought considerable sternness and austerity, “Counsel, I have just been wondering if you or your clients ever heard of the doctrine of volenti non fit injuria?”
To which my counsel replied, “Why, Your Honor, in the piney hills from which I come they speak of little else.” [Laughter and applause.]
In 1977 “Flight International” magazine of London published the following:11
. . . I wonder whether I ought to remind my lawyer of the Barnsley coalminer who sought compensation for an injury.
The case appeared to be turning on a certain point of law whereby no injury is done to one who consents. Intervening, the judge asked the miner’s counsel: “Has your client not heard of Volenti non fit injuria?”
Counsel considered for a moment, and replied: “My Lord, they talk of little else in Barnsley.”
In 1980 the linkage to Sullivan was recalled in the book “Pass the Port Again: The Best After-Dinner Stories of the Famous” which contained the following story:12
A case that originated in the west of Ireland finally found its way to the House of Lords on appeal. One of their Lordships evidently did not think much of Serjeant Sullivan’s legal argument, for he interrupted him by asking:
“I presume, Serjeant Sullivan, that your clients are familiar with the maxim: Assignatus utitur jure auctoris?”
The learned Serjeant promptly replied: “Indeed, my Lord; back home in Ballynattery they talk of nothing else.”
In 1985 the tale was mentioned in the New Zealand Parliament by Winston Raymond Peters of Tauranga who attributed the punchline to a prominent English lawyer:13
I am reminded of a comment made by a famous English barrister, Marshall Hall. One day an officious judge said to him, “Mr Hall, surely your client has heard of the doctrine of res ipso loquitor”, to which Marshall Hall replied, “In the wild hill countries from whence my client comes they talk of nothing else.”
In conclusion, this article presents a snapshot of current knowledge. The sardonic reply has often been assigned to Alexander Martin Sullivan, but he disclaimed credit. Based on Sullivan’s 1952 memoir, QI suggests that the Latin phrase was “Sic utere tuo alienum non laedas”. The judge was Sir John Chute Neligan, and the comical remark was delivered by Henry Harte Barry.
The primary alternative to the hypothesis above occurred in the 1949 citations which stated that the Latin phrase was “Volenti non fit injuria” and the comical remark was spoken by Sullivan.
Image Notes: Illustration of a wooden gavel from Tingey Injury Law Firm at Unsplash. The image has been cropped and resized.
Acknowledgements: Great thanks to Peter Morris whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Morris told QI about several citations beginning in 1968. Thanks to Gareth Rees who located the important April 1949 citation and several other citations. In addition, thanks to discussants John Baker and Fred Shapiro. Also, thanks to previous researcher Nigel Rees who explored this anecdote in “Cassell’s Humorous Quotations” (2001). Rees mentioned an instance set in Barnsley and a 1980 citation crediting Sullivan. Further thanks to discussants at the websites Law Stack Exchange and Literature Stack Exchange.
- 1949 April 29, The Yorkshire Post, A Club Causerie by Creevey, Quote Page 2, Column 7, Yorkshire, England. (British Newspaper Archive) ↩︎
- 1949 July 19, The New Zealand Law Journal, Volume 25, Number 13, In Your Armchair—And Mine by Scriblex, Quote Page 223, Column 2, Wellington, New Zealand (Library of Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand; accessed via library.victoria.ac.nz) link ↩︎
- 1908, Ballygullion by Lynn Doyle, Note: the name “Ballygullion” appears in the title, Maunsel and Company, Dublin, Ireland. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1952, The Last Serjeant: The Memoirs of Serjeant A. M. Sullivan Q.C. by A. M. Sullivan (Alexander Martin Sullivan), Chapter 4: Personalities of the Bench, Quote Page 48, Macdonald, London. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1952 March 21, Evening Standard, The Last of the Serjeants by Montgomery Hyde, Quote Page 9, Column 1, London, England. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1955, Osgoode Hall Lore: Being an Address Given to The Lawyers Club in the Convocation Hall, Orator: George A. Johnston, Speech location: Osgoode Hall, Toronto, Speech date: April 14th, 1955, Quote Page 3, Published by The Lawyers Club, Toronto, Canada. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1998, Quote It Completely!: World Reference Guide to More Than 5,500 Memorable Quotations from Law and Literature, Selected by Eugene C. Gerhart, Topic: Ignorance, Quote Page 456 and 457, William S. Hein & Company, Buffalo, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1963, Hearings Before the Committee on Banking and Currency, U.S. House of Representatives, Eighty-Eighth Congress, First Session, Dates: April 30 and May 1 thru 6, 1963, Conflict of Federal and State Banking Laws, Quote Page 264, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington D.C. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1967 June, The Record of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Volume 22, Number 6, May It Please The Committee by The Honorable Charles S. Desmond (Former Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals of the State of New York), Start Page 438, Quote Page 440, Published at the House of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, New York. (Verified with scans; Internet Archive) ↩︎
- 1974, Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Representation of Citizen Interests of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Ninety-Third Congress, Second Session, The Organized Bar: Self-serving of Serving the Public? Date: February 3, 1974, Statement of Leroy Jeffers, President, State Bar of Texas, Start Page 49, Quote Page 49 and 50, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington D.C. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1977 November 26, Flight International, Volume 112, Number 3585, Roger’s Thesaurus by Uncle Roger, Quote Page 1623, Published by IPC Transport Press Ltd., London. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1980, Pass the Port Again: The Best After-Dinner Stories of the Famous, Person: Professor Owen Hood Phillips, Quote Page 219, Christian Brann, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1985 March 13, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard), First Session, Forty-First Parliament, House of Representatives, Volume 461, Speaking: Winston Raymond Peters of Tauranga, New Zealand, Quote Page 3638, By Authority of V. R. Ward, Government Printer, Wellington, New Zealand. (Verified with scans) link ↩︎