She half closed her eyes, and indulged herself in a fascinating picture of a briefless barrister lodged in a garret, writing immortal novels by the light of a farthing dip.
"Night and Day"
Virginia Woolf
What would you be as a briefless barrister?
"Prince Fortunatus"
William Black
Barristers-generally briefless-inhabit Spider Court; but it is the refuge of the hard-working literary man, and of the members of that strange class which is always waiting for "something to turn up."
"Only One Love, or Who Was the Heir"
Charles Garvice