Obiter thinks it is high time we revived our celebration of loyal legal PAs. Step forward Sharon Charters, who has clocked up 35 years at Stephensons in Bolton. Sharon joined what was then Berry’s Solicitors as an office junior straight from school, before becoming PA to Andrew Mountain, her current boss, in 1984.

Berry’s was acquired by Stephensons in 2006. Mountain, the firm’s care partner, said: ‘Sharon is our longest-serving member of staff and she is an asset to the family team here in Bolton, and indeed the firm. We work very closely with children’s guardians and local authority legal teams, all of whom appreciate her work and comment on how she is long-suffering!’

Songbird Sharon (pictured, right, with Stephensons’ chairwoman Ann Harrison) can often be found singing karaoke at the Cattle Market pub on a Saturday night.