The good book

I took advantage of last week’s glorious sunny weather to slouch out of the office and lie languidly under a tree sipping chilled verdicchio. Completing this blissful self-indulgence was the week’s most compelling title, Watson-Gandy on Accountants — Law, Practice, Precedents and Procedure, published by Hammicks.

As the engagingly self-deprecating Professor Watson-Gandy, who is based at 13 Old Square chambers, would readily admit, this tome is the ideal accompaniment for any sleepy summer afternoon. “You see, it’s the perfect shape for swatting flies,” he explains.

So no surprise then that the title has been a sellout and an admiring audience of solicitors, barristers and delegates from the various accountancy bodies turned out for the launch of the second edition in the basement of 14 Old Square last week. “Revising the first edition and bringing it up to date has taken longer than writing it in the first place,” says the professor who, among his other distinctions, has recently become a papal knight. No wonder then that On Accountants is recognised as the bible on the subject. Its second coming must surely presage a final judgment in the court of accounts.

Sunny periods

Flexible working is essential if you’re going to make the best of any good weather. I seldom get any work done while the sun’s out.

However, flexible working is still not that common among law firms, largely because of the demands of pesky clients and the rigid, outdated attitudes of partners.

That is why one must applaud Addleshaw Goddard for bucking the trend and winning a couple of weeks ago the Opportunity Now Advancing Women in Business Award. “Our flexible working and diversity programmes are now thoroughly embedded in the firm and help us to attract, engage and, most importantly, retain really great people,” said Judith Hardy, HR director at Addleshaw Goddard.

Opportunity Now provides “innovative thought leadership on gender issues in the workplace” and while there are, of course, perfectly good reasons why flexible working is especially important for women it would be a shame if it were gendered in that way. Men like flexibility, too.

Spanish practices

Looking ahead to the height of summer, I must commend to sunseekers a place at the specialist course that the City Law School is to run in Barcelona. The international summer school in maritime law will be held at the Illustre Collegi d’Avocats de Barcelona from July 21 to July 25 and will include sessions on admiralty practice, London maritime arbitration and freight forwarding, logistics and multimodal transport. Those who successfully complete the programme will be awarded a certificate of achievement. Those who fail to complete will earn a suntan (cum laude) instead.

Get lost

Having just enjoyed the rare pleasure of dining at The Ivy courtesy of Roger Alexander, that pillar of Lewis Silkin charm, I’m reminded that there are still the odd pockets of Central London that I can’t quite get clear despite poring over the A-Z. I also lost my bearings a couple of weeks ago when unfolding the complexities of a case involving Compass maps. These are distributed by Geocenter International and not by Berlitz Publishing Group. My apologies for misdirection.

edward.fennell@yahoo.co.uk

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