It has been an Indian summer for one Manchester sports lawyer. Mark Hovell, managing partner at Manchester firm George Davies, has spent the last fortnight at the 2010 Commonwealth Games as the British representative on the six-strong legal panel of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, helping settle disputes arising out of the games. Hovell tells Obiter he quickly found himself mingling with the rich and famous, and was reminded of his own humble status upon arrival in Delhi. He shared the flight out to India with Oscar-winning Bollywood musician AR Rahman, who composed the soundtrack to the hit movie Slumdog Millionaire. At the airport, the girl meeting Hovell abandoned her welcoming duties, and flung his name card to the floor so she could take a photo of Rahman. On the plus side, far from being troubled by the shabby accommodation highlighted by the press in the runup to the games, Hovell stayed at a posh hotel two rooms down from Prince Andrew. At breakfast on his first morning, he met one of the St Lucian support team, who turned out to be the father of Radio 1 DJ Trevor Nelson. Fortunately Hovell’s legal skills were not required too often – apart from being called upon to deal with an eligibility matter for a Norfolk Island lawn bowler – so, happily, there was plenty of time to enjoy the games.