A future where you believed you were training to become a lawyer only to end up manning the phones for a pizza joint is no longer merely a bad dream prior to finals. Obiter recently attended a law firm briefing by an IT vendor that makes clever technology which plugs your phones into your case management system - in other words, a call centre. This will turn any lawyer into the equivalent of a hamster stuck in a wheel, permanently chasing the sunflower seed of equity partnership. But the last thing any right-minded technology company would do is say this out loud. So while those present were being shown this eye-wateringly new form of corporate tyranny, Obiter had cause to wonder how allegedly rational, intelligent legal professionals would allow themselves to be hoodwinked into using it. There was no reason to wait long. The firm was particularly proud of a feature that lets office burghers see if workers are at their desks and who they are on the phone to without their ever knowing. The gaff, as they say, was blown. 'Depending on who we're talking to, we call this supervision,' said the men in suits, 'or collaboration.' You have been warned. The solemnity that crept over Obiter's lunch after that was only lifted by a discussion about how chocolate unfortunately helped ladies shovel weight on after giving birth. 'After all,' said one female delegate, 'who eats KitKats one finger at a time?' 'I do,' said everyone else in the conversation. The embarrassment was priceless.