Bridge too far for sailor Mears?

Nigel Mears, it would seem, is a lawyer who is all things to all clients.

The evidence for this is a press release received from Birmingham firm Putsman.wlc about its recruitment of Mr Mears to head its family team.

Much is made of how he likes to be more sensitive than your usual brutish family practitioner.

But just in case you don't like your divorce adviser to be too touchy-feely, the release adds: 'However, don't mistake Nigel Mears for a "soft touch".

When the chips are down, he is a veritable rottweiler.' To add to the entertainment, we were also sent this picture of him steering a boat along some canal.

What, we wondered, was the relevance of this? Does he try to calm his clients with gentle barge excursions, or will he resort to drowning his opponents if need be? A PR person at the firm explains, as if we were a bit slow, that it represents Mr Mears's ability to steer people through the troubled waters of life.

The bridge in the background, meanwhile, indicates - and we are not making this up - that 'his people-focused services are a godsend to anyone wanting to build a bridge between the past and the future'.

Sometimes, we feel, you can try too hard.