I HAVE already noted that few young men from humble east European family backgrounds succeeded at the Bar before the late 1950s, citing the examples of Eli Cashdan, Salmond Levin, and Sefton Temkin as able men who tried but failed to establish themselves through lack of connections and lack of work. An - other example of such a failure was Hyman Diamond (1914‒77). Brought up in Liverpool, where he qualified for the Bar, he reached the rank of major during the Second World War and was subsequently sent to Germany as a prosecuting officer with the British War Crimes Commission. Although he spoke with clarity, cogency, and wit, he was unable to find enough work; so he left the Bar and suffered a period of financial hardship until joining the Fresh water group of companies (owned by the Freshwaters, a Jewish family), one of Britain's leading landlords for rented accommodation.

In the immediate post-war period, even if one had been successful as a junior member of the Bar there was no guarantee of continued success as a silk. Con - stantine Gallop (1893‒1967) studied law at University College London, qualifying as a barrister at 21; after service in the First World War he undertook postgraduate study at Balliol College, Oxford, where he was elected president of the Union in 1919. ‘His ability as a lawyer and advocate was such that all his friends expected that he would make a highly distinguished career. Joining the Midland Circuit, he quickly won a big practice, mainly in common law, especially in London.’ But in spite of his fine career as a junior, after he took silk Gallop's career just petered out. He was appointed a special commissioner in divorce in 1953, conscientiously carrying out his duties in the divorce courts.

On the other hand, certain exceptional individuals from a second-generation east European immigrant background managed to build up flourishing practices in the 1940s and 1950s. William Frankel (b. 1914) studied law at London University, being called to the Bar in 1944.