To Herbert Smith Freehills on London’s Exchange Square, where comedian Ruby Wax (pictured) added some showbiz glamour to a relaunch of the firm’s mental health programme.

Wax, who publishes a book on ‘mindfulness’ this summer (Sane New World: How to Tame the Mind), mixed candour with humour as she spoke about her own experience of depression.

‘We never talk about [mental health] because we’re far too busy,’ she observed, ‘but your insides don’t know what you do for a living.’

For any lawyers in the audience not paying attention, Wax employed empathy to connect with those who have adjusted badly to the growth in fixed fees. ‘Sorry if I’m talking too quickly, but I know I only have an hour, and I charge by the hour,’ she quipped.