Could a commercial litigation partner from a London law firm be responsible for the sound of summer, filling dance floors across the land? Not a question we at Obiter HQ ever thought we would be required to ask, but the answer could be yes.


Jon Scott of England Palmer has released a single called, funnily enough, 'Summer'. Apparently this fuses 'sexy Café del Mar-esque Balearic beats with Scott's sweet soul vocal'. The track is taken from his forthcoming album 'Some R Beautiful', which was produced by Gordon Hulbert (who has worked with Chaka Khan and Angie Stone in the past).



The good news is that the single, out on 6 August, has already received airplay and is play-listed on MTV Dance.



Mr Scott, who was once a child star in Nigeria and protégé of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti, moved to the UK when he was 20. His legal career then took over, but he was recently persuaded to kick-start his music again by his children. For more information and to listen to the single, go to www.jonscottmusic.com.



He is certainly a strong candidate for the title of 'the UK's most soulful lawyer', a crown first claimed by Cambridge-based Allis Karim.



Mr Karim made his bid for the title on the basis of setting up his own record label (Lola Waxx Records, which has a new single out by Simone) and the 'awesome grooves' on his MySpace page.



He has been in touch to dismiss the challenge of Allan Scorer, a non-lawyer fee-earner at Gosschalks in Hull who is lead singer of The Rumble Band and once toured with Arthur Conley of 'Sweet Soul Music' fame.



'Past soul precedent (especially from the 20th century) is not binding on the modern soul movement and is merely considered obiter,' Mr Karim writes, adding that his erstwhile rival is not a lawyer. 'To establish Mr Scorer's true credentials, he should be able to show that he is regularly seen at the Paper Club at the Café Royale, "Keep the Faith" monthly London Soul Night Out or has a show on Choice FM.'



More controversially, he writes: 'Then again, Gosschalks are based in Hull, so they may be into Northern Soul. Northern Soul has always been regarded as the poorer relation to the Underground Soul Movement in the south.'



Time to put the tin hat on.