William Brett, 1st Viscount Esher: Quotes about laws

William Brett, 1st Viscount Esher was British lawyer, judge and politician. Explore interesting quotes on law.
William Brett, 1st Viscount Esher: 32   quotes 0   likes

“Working days in England are not the same as working days in foreign ports, because working days in England, by the custom and habits of the English, if not by their law, do not include Sundays.”

William Brett, 1st Viscount Esher

Nielsen v. Wait (1885), L. R. 16 Q. B. 71.

Law

“I agree that is the law, though I think it is a hard law; but we have nothing to do with the question of hardship.”

William Brett, 1st Viscount Esher

In re Perkins (1890), L. R. 24 Q. B. D. 618.

Law , Question , Thinking

“Well, then, the moment there is a patent case one can see it before the case is opened, or called in the list. How can we see it? We can see it by a pile of books as high as this invariably… Now, what is the result of all this? Why that a man had better have his patent infringed, or have anything happen to him in this world, short of losing all his family by influenza, than have a dispute about a patent. His patent is swallowed up, and he is ruined. Whose fault is it? It is really not the fault of the law; it is the fault of the mode of conducting the law in a patent case. This is what causes all this mischief.”

William Brett, 1st Viscount Esher

Ungar, v. Sugg (1892) 9 RPC 113, at 116

Books , World , Family , Law

“A great deal of difficulty has been caused in the administration of the law, and particularly of the common law, by decisions in which technical rules have been formulated which were not true—that is, were not in accordance with the facts of the case.”

William Brett, 1st Viscount Esher

In re North, Ex parte Hasluck (1895), L. R. 2 Q. B. D. [1895], p. 269.

Law , Decision

“Personally, I detest any attempt to bring the law into maxims. Maxims are invariably wrong, that is, they are so general and large that they always include something which is not intended to be included.”

William Brett, 1st Viscount Esher

Yarmouth v. France (1887), L. J. 57 Q. B. 9.

Law , Personality