A Pair of Briefs

A Pair of Briefs is a 1962 black and white British courtroom comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Michael Craig, Mary Peach, Brenda De Banzie and James Robertson Justice. The screenplay concerns a newly qualified female barrister who clashes with a male colleague when they represent opposite sides in a matrimonial dispute. The title is a double entendre, referring both to the documents setting out the case a barrister argues in court, and also to an item of underwear. The film title and opening credits are shown over a scene of the female barrister in her underwear as she dresses for the office, and the publicity poster illustrates this. The "Brief" of the title refers to the document which a solicitor in the UK court system writes to instruct a barrister who will present their client's case in court. The term can also be applied to the person presenting the brief. The intended double meaning is that a "pair of briefs" also is the usual term for a pair of female underpants. Plot Tony Stevens, as a junior barrister, bemoans the fact that he receives nothing but routine briefs concerning sewers, with small fees. So when a high-paying brief concerning a writ for "restitution of conjugal rights" is given to newly arrived Frances Pilbright (who just happens to be the niece of a senior barrister in the chambers Sir John Pilbright, and god-daughter of the instructing solicitor), Stevens is outraged, and, by devious means, obtains the brief for the opposite side in the case.