The mainstream press has a habit of falling over itself every time Prime Minister Tony Blair (or for these purposes, perhaps that should be Antoine de Blair) babbles a few words in French when addressing senior types on the other side of the Channel. Antoine's command is of the passable A-level variety, but the papers go all dewy-eyed anyway, with subtle suggestions that our leaders are just as multilingual as those on continent, which is of course nonsense. However, one member of Antoine's cabinet really has got a decent grip on la francais, and the legal profession can rejoice in the fact that it is the Attorney-General, Lord Goldsmith QC. Speaking to delegates at the recent bi-annual plenary session of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of the EU, Lord Goldsmith kicked off his speech with five minutes of cultured, intelligent and well-accented French. And he capped it all with a joke about being a confrère, and to prove it he proudly pointed out that he was wearing a membership tie of the Paris bar. Eh, bien dit donc, as your French avocat is frequently heard to exclaim in the courts.