Contrary to Patience's instructions, Thesiger negotiated a settlement with Cockburn and put it to the judge.
Dismissing Thesiger, Patience instructed a young and little known barrister named Charles Rann Kennedy, promising to pay him £20,000 (around £2.4 million in present-day terms[1]) if he succeeded in her cause.
[2] Spurred by the incentive and the fact that he was engaged in a sexual relationship with Patience, Kennedy won the estate.
Kennedy sued and won, but his claim was overturned on appeal on the grounds that his contingency fee agreement under another name offended ancient prohibitions on champerty and maintenance.
[3] In the case of Kennedy v. Broun, Sir William Erle CJ held that the relationship between client and barrister was not a contract.