Piece of puff

Maybe because of the late school holidays it has been a slow week in City Diaryland but a great opportunity, nonetheless, to catch up on the little pieces of inconsequentia that lighten up the week.

As my regular reader knows, fighting through a sludge of press releases is the daily lot of those who labour on this column. Most are dull to read and nondescript to look at. So that is why a release from Travers Smith is always a pleasure. Even as the heart sinks as one reads — as I did last week — that “Travers Smith advised the sellers of MMI Research (MMI) on the up to £16.6 million sale of MMI to Main Market-listed Cobham plc (Cobham)” one can enjoy the elegant pleasure of a beautifully illustrated trumpet that pokes its way across the top of the release. Is this to convey the importance of the news? Or just attract one’s attention? Or maybe a chance for Travers Smith to blow its own trumpet for what a wonderful job it is doing for its clients?

All of these might be banal or even vulgar questions and give rise to cynicism. However, there is something about the elegant lines of that trumpet and the perfect way it sits on the paper that makes it a joy to behold, redeeming even the most prosaic of announcements. So let me commend to you Travers Smith — the firm with all the trump cards.

Lex versus law

I’m a great supporter of the Institute of Legal Executives (Ilex) but I thought it was taking the turf war over professional qualification to a new level when it launched its careers website last week under the slogan: “Your best route to a successful law career.” It also cocked a snook at the Law Society of England and Wales in its case study of the young man who progressed from legal executive to solicitor by announcing: “The [Ilex] qualification means more to me. When asked, I say that the Ilex exams seemed so much harder than the additional exams I had to take to qualify as a solicitor.” The “third arm” of the legal profession seems to have an increasingly sharp elbow.

Tearing off a strip

My “lawyer of the week” award goes to the Shoosmiths’ IP partner on Thursday’s Today programme who had to explain the significance of the adidas victory in defending its stripes insignia against lookalike merchants. It ended up being “two stripes good, three stripes bad”. Or something like that.

Sitting comfortably?

Gyms are de rigueur for any self-respecting City firm but I wonder whether they wouldn’t do better with a little investment in the Alexander technique. Clifford Chance used to provide an Alexander therapist in its Little Britain offices and one of its most successful partners gave up the law — his millions made — to become an Alexander technique teacher himself.

When I received some promo material last week from the Society of Teachers of Alexander technique (who knows, maybe at the instigation of that very former CC partner), I wondered whether its adoption would stretch the tolerance of even the most diversity friendly firm. Making the point that “continual sitting, particularly in the wrong positions, can not only cause strains and aches, but also prevent effective [working]” it recommended various techniques for reducing discomfort. These included spending 20 minutes, twice a day, lying semi-supine. So the next time you’ve had a Friday liquid lunch . . .

edward.fennell@yahoo.co.uk

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