Last week's plenary meeting of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) saw the UK - in some ways an outsider in the European legal profession because of the Clementi reforms, gold-plated money laundering legislation and so on - put itself in the forefront of the organisation. Held in Edinburgh in recognition of this year's president, Scottish QC Colin Tyre, the meeting began as ever with the president doing the rounds of the delegations from each country to recognise changes and guests (who each get a polite round of applause) - with every group sitting, UN-style, behind a little national flag. Anyway, by the time Mr Tyre reached the UK delegation, it had become clear that its size had broken all CCBE records. It is normally a fairly large delegation anyway because it is made up of representatives from the law societies and bars of England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. But to celebrate the first UK president for donkey's years, the Scottish bar invited the great and the good of the UK profession to sit in, which meant that a complete row of seats - amounting to 18 members in all - was taken up by the 'home' delegation. The previous record, Obiter understands, was a puny 14 held by the Italians. From UK law firms dominating the continent's biggest deals to UK lawyers dominating CCBE seating arrangements, the European legal scene quivers at the sight of les ros bifs and friends.
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