Get Carman : In court with George Carman QC, Britain’s most feared lawyer – The man behind the advocate

George Carman QC was,and perhaps still is, Britain’s most famous lawyer within living memory.

Equally feared and respected, he made his name as an erudite and incisiveadvocate largely in the field of libel. Coming to prominence with his superbdefence of disgraced former Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe on a charge of conspiracy tomurder, Carman subsequently defended many well-known faces from the worlds ofentertainment, sport, politics and business, including Ken Dodd, RichardBranson and Elton John.

Away from court, Carmanwas a complex and private yet not unsociable man. In 1986, he met barristerKaren Phillipps and, although she turned down his immediate marriage proposal,the two would have a close platonic relationship for the rest of Carman’s life.

Carman intended to writehis memoirs but became too ill to complete the book and died in 2001. Using hispapers, press cuttings and court transcripts – along with the testimonies ofsome of those who saw him in action and her own extensive memories of her closefriend -Phillipps presents a portrait of this eminent advocate through thecases that made him famous. All the drama of the courtroom world that Carmanbelonged to is here, along with some of the best and most entertaining theatrethe English justice system has ever seen.