High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Sir William Garrow KC, PC, FRS (13 April 1760 – 24 September 1840) was a British barrister, politician and judge known for his indirect reform of the advocacy system, which helped usher in the adversarial court system used in most common law nations today. He introduced the phrase "innocent until proven guilty", insisting that defendants` accusers and their evidence be thoroughly tested in court. Born to a priest and his wife in Monken Hadley, then in Middlesex, Garrow was educated at his father`s school in the village before being apprenticed to Thomas Southouse, an attorney in Cheapside, which preceded a pupillage with a Mr. Crompton, a special pleader. Garrow studied the law hard, viewing cases at the Old Bailey, and as a result Crompton recommended that he become a solicitor or barrister. Garrow joined Lincoln`s Inn in November 1778, and was called to the Bar on 27 November 1783. He quickly established a reputation as a criminal law barrister, particularly for the defendants, and in February 1793 was made a King`s Counsel by HM Government to prosecute cases involving treason and felonies.