Diversity is an ‘American import’ and as a result class bias was never envisaged as a barrier to the legal profession. Or so claimed one member of the audience at last week’s launch of the Diversity League Table, the Black Solicitors Network’s annual snapshot of diversity in law firms and chambers. It was one of several uninhibited comments from the floor - as usual, more compelling than the worthy sentiments spouted from the platform.

Another audience member opined, to knowing laughter, that diversity might be improved if ‘endless job application forms’ avoided such inanities as ‘give an example of how you helped your team while standing on one leg’. Another, in the comparative privacy of the drinks reception, wondered at deputy prime minister Nick Clegg’s qualifications for writing the foreword to the league tables. Obiter is heartened to learn that the profession still has its share of radicals.