A slightly unusual lawyerbasher, this one, in that the source of the bashing is a lawyer. Nevertheless, the submission qualifies as he is bashing a fellow lawyer. Writing in The Guardian last week on his days at The Sun, Kelvin MacKenzie remembered the following exchange between Elton John’s lawyer, Frank Presland of Eversheds and an unidentified lawyer from the The Sun‘s legal team at Farrer & Co.
“There was one moment during the negotiation when I knew we were doomed. Our lawyers were Farrer, the Queen’s lawyers. Very proper. Very pinstriped. Very decent. Representing Elton was Frank Presland, a rather entertaining bruiser. Our fellow had made an intellectual argument appealing to high mindedness and financial fairness. Presland put it rather differently. He said to our man: ‘You know what I would like to do to you?’ Our lawyer looked puzzled and said: ‘What would you like to do to me?’ Presland replied: ‘I’d like to carve the word ‘bollocks’ on your forehead’.”
