Bar sent reelingBritish film makers aiming for the US box office are always keen to make scripts more easily understood by the punters in Des Moines.

Their love of the wig and gown is reflected in the latest in the genre, 'Bridget Jones's Diary', in which the Colin Firth character metamorphoses from a solicitor (in the book) to a barrister (in the film).

The Firth character also dices with the Bar's code of conduct by giving a TV interview and twists inter-profession practice rules to become 'the senior' partner in the New York office of his London-based law firm.

The only accurate point, said one wag walking out of the cinema, was that by being a boring dullard, the Firth character was a realistic portrayal of today's Bar.

Of course, Obiter itself would never accept that view.