The Highwaymen

R v. Everet & Williams (1725)

Today will form the first entry of a series I’m going to call #casefiles, where I review landmark cases across jurisdictions, explain these cases and their significance, and discuss how the decision made applies today.

Today, we will look at the 1725 English case, Everet v. Williams

I remember the first day I ever heard of Everet v. Williams. It must’ve been in my contract class back in my second year in the university, and the topic was perhaps something about illegal contracts. It was a farce, to say the least. I could not believe something like that had ever happened, but as they say, reality is often stranger than fiction.

In the long, unpredictable history of courtrooms, few cases are as bizarre as what happened about 300 years ago at the time of writing, Everet v. Williams. This is one of those stories that makes you wonder what was running through people's minds back then.

So, here’s what happened.

John Everet and Joseph Williams were a pair of highway robbers in 18th-century England. If you’ve seen those old Westerns with men on horses shouting “stand and deliver!" that was them. By all accounts, they’d made quite a killing from being “gentlemen on the highway," and so they continued.

You see, Everet and Williams had an understanding: they would rob travelers together, and at the end of each escapade, split the spoils equally. 50-50. Simple and straight, right? Well, not exactly.

Now, as is often the case when greed and crime mix, things went south. Everet accused Williams of holding out on him, basically not remitting his own cut from their latest heist. And in a move that was either ill-advised or completely of his own thought and volition, Everet sued Williams in court for breach of contract.

Yes, you did read that correctly. A robber dragged his co-robber to court to enforce their criminal agreement. Everet was not letting his 50% go that easily; fair enough.

You probably are wondering if there were any actual lawyers involved in this, and the answer is yes, actually. Everet did take counsel for this case, and they, presumably despite being fully briefed about the plaintiff’s grievances, initiated the case against Williams in court, appealing to the court for discovery, rendering of account, and repatriation of profits made.

In the pleadings, Everet presented himself as a “businessman” who was in partnership with Williams, dealing with “several sorts of commodities” obtained for “little to no money.”

It's a bit on the nose, isn’t it? The court thought so too.

As expected, the court was unimpressed. It described the case as “scandalous and impertinent.” Not only did they refuse to entertain the claim, but both men ended up being exposed, arrested, and subsequently executed. Both lawyers (both coincidentally named William), William White and William Wreathcock, didn’t escape unscathed either. They were arrested, sanctioned, and fined 50 pounds apiece.

Ironically, William Wreathcock himself got convicted for robbery in the same year. Criminal lawyer or CRIMINAL lawyer? I guess you could say he was both.

Why is this case important?

Although it seems like common sense, the case laid down a key principle that still survives in modern contract law: courts will not enforce a contract that is founded on illegality or one that offends public policy. In other words, if you and someone else agree to do something illegal, don’t expect the courts to help you settle disputes when it falls apart.

This principle shows up in various forms today. Whether it’s a shady land deal, an illegal business arrangement, or any contract for an unlawful purpose, the law simply says, “Sort yourselves out. We’re not getting involved.”

Why should I care?

You might not be robbing stagecoaches, but bad business ideas still exist. Partnerships built on shady foundations, agreements to cut corners, and backdoor deals—they're all modern equivalents.

And yes, internet fraud is also a crime, normalized as it may be in today’s Nigeria.

As Everet and Williams learned the hard way, when you play dirty and get stuck in the mud, the system won’t be there to bail you out.