It seems a shame there is no English word for schadenfreude when we are so good at it. The excellent online Diary of a Criminal Solicitor (criminalsolicitor.blogspot.com) recently received a flyer for a lecture by David Corker of Corker Binning for the London Criminal Courts Solicitors' Association (LCCSA). Mr Corker's biography was included on the leaflet, but in a sense of playfulness we can leave you to work out which of the following sentences in it is the odd one out:


David Corker is a solicitor at Corker Binning & a regular lecturer for the LCCSA. The 2004 Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession described him having a "pedigree which stands out by itself." The 2005 edition as "tremendously bright", the 2006 edition as " a business crime legend" & the 2007 edition as having made a "massive academic contribution due to his involvement on the lecture circuit." Collegaues have described him as 'a complete wanker'.



Yes, it is the last sentence that should not have been sent out to 1,000 lawyers and placed on the LCCSA's website for two days.

Mr Corker told Obiter he was 'embarrassed' at the 'error' in the biog he sent to the LCCSA and that 'a lot of people have had a laugh about it'. But the Gazette understands the lecture, on the riveting subject of fraud law, was a sell-out, and that respondents said it was the first laugh they'd ever had from LCCSA leaflets. Bad language, it would appear, can be good marketing.