In these difficult times, it is good to know that the entrepreneurial spirit is still alive and well, and indeed that every apparent difficulty is, in fact, an opportunity. As this column has documented, criminal defence solicitors have bemoaned the Court Service’s current policy of banning them from bringing dictation devices into court, lest they should in some moment of madness be tempted to breach their own professional rules and covertly record the proceedings, which is of course illegal. Defence lawyers have repeatedly pointed out the stupidity of the rule, given that mobile phones, which often have a recording facility, are routinely allowed. Moreover, the prohibition stops solicitors from making good use of tiresome minutes spent waiting around in court – all in the context of legal aid reforms that are intended to drive lawyers to be uber-efficient. But one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and it seems that a sandwich vendor near London’s Old Bailey has spotted an opportunity. Obiter has learned that Bailey’s Sandwich Bar opposite the court will take custody of a solicitor’s dictation machine while they are in court for a modest fee of £1. For £2, lawyers can leave a whole bag of paraphernalia for the day. But readers are reminded to ensure they take their belongings with them at the end of the day. One of the staff told Obiter that they still have in their possession a rather chunky Sony dictation device which was dropped off six weeks ago.