Who? Jane Gilbert, 42-year-old associate at Norwich firm Cozens-Hardy & Jewson.

Why is she in the news? Represents Colin Rose, the prison officer who recently won a claim for unfair dismissal after being sacked for cracking a joke about Osama Bin Laden a few months after the 11 September terrorist attacks.

He had forcefully thrown some keys down a chute, and when asked why he had thrown them so hard had quipped 'There's a photo of Osama Bin Laden down there'.

The Prison Service claimed that Asian people visiting the building may have been offended.

Background: LLB at Warwick University 1980-83, then Law Society finals at Guildford College of Law 1984-85.

Articles at Hill & Perks in Norwich (now Eversheds) 1985-87.

Moved to Rogers & Norton in Norwich after qualification.

She returned to Eversheds in 1992, leaving in 2000, when she completed a masters degree in personnel and development at De Montfort University in Leicester.

Joined Cozens-Hardy & Jewson in 2001.

Route to the case: Referral from the Citizens Advice Bureau.

Thoughts on the case: 'By the time Colin came to me, he had already failed at two internal prison hearings and another firm of solicitors had rejected his case.

But he was determined to succeed.

It was such an insignificant incident but it grew to enormous proportions and was devastating for him personally.

The tribunal agreed with us that the discipline meted out to him was far outside the bounds of a reasonable employer, and they were very critical of the prison governor and the disciplinary process.

The Prison Service never bothered to find out whether the remark had actually been overheard by any visitors.

My client has been out of work since November 2002 and he is 53 years old, and so we are expecting substantial damages.'

Dealing with the media: 'There has been a lot of media interest in the case - I have had to screen enquires from Sky News, Radio 2, the Sun, The Times and the Telegraph.

But the media has been very supportive of our case.'

Rachel Rothwell