A wise man avoids encounters with the law. Whatever your budget, it’s still more than you can afford. Not only that but once entangled with lawyers, you place yourself at the mercy of their wit, or even more unnerving, their sense of what is proper. If they feel your case is without merit, you will see this reflected both in their behaviour and the final bill.

The case that really drove this home to me was Gowallon v The guild of leather tanners. Gowallon was a Sinecurist. He took on the task of keeping the streets clear of dog turds. A specialist duty but a vital one as I’m sure you’ll agree. This he did by paying the collectors so much a bucket for the stuff they gathered. He would then sell it on to the leather tanners. They used it for bating the leather, pounding it in and leaving…