Most would agree that there is much to learn from those who excel in their field. This series of short biographical sketches of famous South African lawyers will hopefully be helpful to identify the qualities of those who have raised their heads above the parapet. I will also touch on the flaws of these notable characters that will remind us that no soul, regardless of their genius, is without weakness.
Upington was educated at South African College School, Cape Town and Trinity College in Dublin. He was admitted to the Cape Bar in 1898. Like many lawyers, he followed in the footsteps of his father, Sir Thomas Upington, who was a noted advocate and judge in the Cape.
Upington was a noted defender of the accused, as well as a wit and an eccentric.
A confirmed bachelor who never married, Upington cared little about his fees and often left his fee cheques uncashed. He was careless with his own finances and often did not submit income tax returns.
During his career he developed a lust for drink that he could often not control. At first these binges did not affect his work but later in his career he became unreliable, unpunctual, slothful and obnoxious.
However, many felt that he was at heart a kindly man. He spent little money on himself and did not buy expensive clothes or live lavishly. In the pub his bar bills were high where many were known to sponge on his generosity.
When he was offered a judgeship, his comment was reputed to be, ‘I would rather stand on my feet all day and talk nonsense, than have to sit on my bottom all day and listen to it.’
Regardless of his shortcomings, what made Upington, whom many described as, the outstanding advocate of his time?
As a junior he showed tireless concentration and would make himself acquainted with every fact for and against his client. He would apply himself heart and soul on a case and often spent long hours in study and preparation in his chambers. He was also well known for having a sixth sense when a witness was lying.
When mentoring juniors, he would warn them not to rely too slavishly on their briefs, but rather to carry the facts in their heads and think on their feet.
Upington was a master of court craft. In court he watched and listened with infinite care, and nothing escaped him. Many believed that he had a photographic memory.
Upington was a master of persuasion and could be charming or ruthless when it was needed. He had a sense of the dramatic, which he combined with wit and eloquence.
Like almost all great advocates he was a devastating cross-examiner who honed his craft through study, practice and experience. Combined with all of this he had an unsurpassed knowledge of human nature and a commanding personality.
A mark of the man was that after a case he liked to face the person he had cross-examined, look him in the eye and shake his hand.
Harry Morris another legendary member of the Bar and contemporary of Upington once said in a tribute to him that: ‘There is only one Beau Upington’.
He was urbane, aloof and publicly shy and could rarely be tempted to leave the Cape though fame also awaited him elsewhere. However, when he took the court stage he dominated it. Fearless and tireless in a fight, the courts where he appeared would fill like a theatre on opening night.
Benjamin Bennett in his book on Upington’s life starts with the following apt quotation from the bard: ‘His life was gentle; and the elements so mixed in him, that Nature might stand up and say to all the world, “This was a Man”’ – William Shakespeare (Benjamin Bennett This Was a Man (Cape Town: Howard Timmins 1958)).
Upington, a man of contradictions and flaws, possessed a genius for advocacy and court craft that is remembered to this day. May we learn from what made him great and be warned of the pitfalls that may cause even the most talented of men to stumble.
Mark Tomlinson BA (Law) LLB (Natal) is a legal practitioner at Tomlinson Attorneys in Scottburgh.
This article was first published in De Rebus in 2025 (Jan/Feb) DR 25.
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