Molesworth as role model

The Devil’s Advocate™ →Go uptown I mean just look at him. In which the curmudgeonly old sod puts the world to rights. Index — Click ᐅ to expand: The Devil’s Advocate Tell me more Sign up for our newsletter — or just get in touch: for ½ a weekly 🍺 you get to consult JC. Ask about it here.

Asked to chose his favourite literary character as an inspiration for law, the JC — after a wistful look at A. P. Herbert’s curmudgeonly litigant Albert Haddock — chose of course Geoffrey Willans and Ronald Searle’s immortal, heroic schoolboy nigel molesworth, self-styled curse of st custards.

Moleworth doesn’t stand on form or ceremony in how he expresses himself. Through imaginative subversion of the vernacular, molesworth has instead generated his own idiom which — as any fule kno — survives to this day in respectful publications like Private Eye and the (cough) the jole contrian.Wantonly, he eschews convention in favour of clear, forthright communication. He cuts through: his language and his clarity of vision survives the ages:

Second to swots headmasters like boys who are good at foopball and shoot goals then they can shout ‘Pile in caruthers strate for goal’ or other weedy things from the touchline.

Personally i am not good at foopball i just concentrate on hacking everbode. Headmaster yell at me he sa MARK YOUR MAN MOLESWORTH ONE what does he think i am the arsenal chiz. Acktually fotherington-tomas is worst than me he is goalie and spend his time skipping about he sa Hullo clouds hullo sky hullo sun ect when huge centre forward bearing down on hims and SHOT whistles past his nose. When all the team sa you shave hav stoped it fothertingon-tomas he repli ‘I simply don’t care a row of buttons whether it was a goal or not nature alone is beattful’'

It would be lovely if more lawyers —in-house and out — would look at their world the same way.

Molseworth is also the quintessential legal operations man. He understands the importance of form and automation of tiresome and unnecessary tasks - take for example the patented molesworth self-adjusting thank-you letter:

He has a unique way of looking at the world. He understands the potential for subverting the natural order of things for better effect.

He’s one of the troops, a rank and filer, at the mercy of masters, matron, the skool dog, sossages and GURLS chiz chiz. But he believes in himself, what he stands for, and realises it takes grit and determination not 5o mention knowledge of How To Be Topp.