Oh dear. In a worthy bid to promote equality and diversity in the profession, the Bar Council South East Circuit (SEC) intended to hold an event called ‘Against the Odds’ on 28 October. Good stuff, except for one small detail: no one noticed that the date clashed with Diwali.

Also known as the Festival of Light, Diwali is a major event in Hinduism, Sikhism and Jainism, and many potential attendees were planning to spend it with their families. While the Society of Asian Lawyers (SAL) applauded the Bar Council’s intentions, the group wrote expressing its surprise and to ask for the event to be rescheduled. Sundeep Bhatia, the society’s chairman, said: ‘I have not been able to fathom why the SEC chose this date and if those organising it had given any thought to the significance of it.’

Faced with a united front of groups representing black and minority ethnic lawyers, including the Association of Muslim Lawyers, the Bar Council decided this week to give in. The event has now been postponed until 20 January 2009.