Sad day for the Nathanson family
Spare a thought this week for poor Mr Nathanson - that is, if there ever was one. Research has proved difficult into the matter, but Obiter assumes there was once a solicitor (probably male) called Nathanson who linked up with a Mr Nabarro and they happily launched a London legal practice that has achieved some considerable notoriety and success as Nabarro Nathanson. Then along came the image wallahs and marketing gurus who decided to apply the same approach to Mr Nathanson as Uncle Joe Stalin did to Leon Trotsky, that is, to erase him for history (although we hope without invoking the use of an ice pick). As of this week, keen public-relations execs acting for the firm tell us that Nabarro Nathanson officially will be no more. A radical overhaul of the firm's image has resulted in a lot of fanfare to announce that it will now be called... wait for it... Nabarro. Crack open the new logo, launch the new website, gear up the verbiage &150; senior partner Simon Johnston waxes: 'Shortening our name to Nabarro is part of a wider rebranding of our firm on the theme "Clarity Matters". This initiative puts clarity at the heart of everything we do. We believe that giving clear, comprehensible advice, however complex the circumstances, is one of the most important contributions we can make to our clients' successes.' Surely, it is only a matter of time before the firm truly grabs the clarity nettle and becomes simply 'N'. Indeed, judging by its logo, it is nearly there already.