A law unto themselves

The spectrum of those dissatisfied with the processes of the law runs from the “barrack room lawyer” inveighing in saloon bars against judges and lawyers, through to the person preoccupied by one irksome decision—involving himself or someone close to him—to those who are truly successful in getting into the hair of the law, namely, the vexatious litigant.

These are persons who usually come to have a staggering knowledge of some area of the law, enough to put many specialist lawyers to shame, not to mention the law firms where they soon become persona non grata. An alphabetical list of those individuals who have been declared vexatious litigants is available on the HM Courts Service website. The list is surprisingly extensive suggesting that the undue preoccupation some individuals have with the law and their quest for justice, as they see it, is more widespread than may appear at first sight. Experience suggests that there is both a male as well as middle class bias to the background of these