wrote on 16/08/2011
at
00:00
I was 16 years old, a new articled clerk in a Bulawayo law office. It was the first meeting of a discussion group formed by young lawyers and law clerks. We drew straws to see who would give the first presentation at the next meeting. I drew the short straw, to my dismay.Marshall could tell that I was nervous and unconfident. He said, John is clearly the youngest person here. Perhaps it would be better if someone else gave the first presentation. I was immensely grateful to Marshall. Years later, I had successfully represented a couple of people charged because of their political action, and more people started coming to me asking me to represent them. The firm I was working for told me: no more political cases. But I knew where they could go to find representation: the Baron family firm, where Marshall worked.