Ex-Goodie will star in barristers' training video

FORMER Goodie, Tim Brooke-Taylor, is to star in a training video for Bar students which will also be used for qualified barristers.

The video is entitled "Do I Have To Talk To The Client?", a feeling which sums up the views of many barristers, according to its creator, Rosemary Samwell-Smith.

The video aims to help barristers to interview clients, avoiding the pitfalls and disasters which can occur without proper preparation.

"You would not believe some of the horror stories I hear about senior barristers and the way some of them treat clients," says Samwell-Smith, a senior lecturer at the Inns of Court School of Law.

Brooke-Taylor plays the role of a barrister who makes every mistake in the book during an interview with a young, single mother from Tower Hamlets.

When he has heard her story, the interview moves on to the "advice" stage. "I like this bit," he says.

But his handling of the woman ends up as the ultimate nightmare for both barrister and client.

The video concludes with a summing-up by Mr Justice Latham.

It will be launched on 27 September in Gray's Inn, priced between u20-u25.

Brooke-Taylor will star in three more training videos concentrating on advocacy and dealing with difficult clients.