His blog didn’t exactly condemn all tax structuring. But it did point out that the subject was complex. Investors had often been encouraged to participate by their financial advisers and accountants, as well as by the government, which was keen to promote investment in films, he wrote in one post.

While his writing may have lost him clients, it got the attention of Ed Miliband, the then-leader of the Labour Party. Maugham became an informal adviser on tax policy before Miliband’s 2015 election defeat.

Tilting at Windmills

Maugham says being a lawyer in a controversial field requires a thick skin, which is useful for anyone willing to speak out on the subject of Brexit.

Online critics have ridiculed him for being undemocratic, out-of-touch, unpatriotic, and living in a converted windmill (he doesn’t although he has a holiday home in one). Even his name isn’t a proper one, in the view of one Twitter user. “Someone was threatening to string me from a lamppost the other day,” Maugham says.

Mostly, he takes it in good humor. “I much more enjoy a hostile audience than I do a friendly audience,” he explains. “If you have been booted in the head repeatedly arguing an ugly tax case, other forums hold few fears.” Miller, as the public face of the legal opposition, has endured far worse, he says.

“He seems to be arguing against the falling of the night,” says Gunnar Beck, an attorney and academic at the University of London who campaigned for Britain to leave the EU. While he doesn’t deny Maugham’s right to explore valid legal questions, “lawyers who don’t like the referendum result would probably do better to engage constructively with the process,” Beck says. He doubts the Dublin case will succeed.

Change of Heart

By saying openly that Brexit will be a disaster, Maugham is positioning himself against the majority of voters in the June 2016 referendum, which is a place occupied by few office holders. Theresa May continues to push for a so-called Hard Brexit. Labour campaigned ineffectively to keep Britain in the EU and has been indecisive on the issue since. Once a supporter, Maugham now questions the Labour Party’s future.

There is confusion which Maugham is seeking to clarify. Justice Secretary Liz Truss said in February that she understands Article 50 to be irrevocable. But John Kerr, the diplomat who helped to write it, said last November it could be reversed. “You can change your mind while the process is going on,” he said.