Obiter raises a glass to personal injury solicitor James Wood for recently becoming the first man with an injured spinal cord to swim the English Channel. Wood, whose spine was broken in a road accident in 1990, causing him to lose the use of his legs, completed the crossing in an impressive 14.5 hours on 23 September. The gruelling ordeal involved close encounters with oil tankers; being carried the long way round by the tide; and, in the final stages, swimming in pitch darkness. Wood resigned from City firm Greenwoods in order to train for the swim. But after all that, he must surely be ready to go back to a comfy desk job.