'Legal vultures' rip into liberty claim after May Day havoc The May Day protests in London last week may not have dealt a huge blow to capitalism, but they wreaked plenty of damage to the legal profession's reputation - more than to Oxford street's windows, at least.The anti-lawyer charge was led by the Daily Mail, the front page of which (3 May) screamed 'Mayday: now the lawyers run riot'.

Inside it slammed the 'legal vultures' who were 'queueing up to cash in on the May Day riots with a massive civil liberties compensation claim against the police'.

This 'grubby', 'squalid' and 'inglorious' display of - gasp - people daring to defend their civil liberties is 'an example of a legal system taking leave of its senses'.London's Evening Standard also criticised the 'shameful lawyers', whose 'ingenuity' and 'rapacity' means that 'we as taxpayers will find ourselves paying the bills' (3 May), with the 'disastrous no win, no fee legislation' meaning that the courts will distribute money to 'the most absurd claimants' with 'mounting recklessness'.

From one tabloid dream to another, and this week saw one of Britain's most wanted men, Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs, fly back from Brazil after his 35-year exile to face justice, free healthcare, and a media circus.

Unsurprisingly, the lawyers were again painted as the villains of the piece, with the news that the 'seedy villain' Biggs will be appealing against serving the remainder of his 30-year sentence on human rights grounds described as 'sickening' and 'cynical' (Daily Mail, 8 May).Keeping him behind bars 'would be inhuman or degrading, and thus in breach of the Human Rights Act', according to Biggs' legal team, and the 'sickeningly ironic' prospect of Biggs escaping his 'long overdue deserts' would become a reality if the 'perverse European Court' gets its way, the paper claimed.Long overdue deserts will not be coming Lord Chancellor Derry Irvine's way, according to the Evening Standard (1 May), which flew against the prevailing media wind by declaring that 'Tony Blair is ready to defy critics of his controversial Lord Chancellor and reappoint Lord Irvine to Britain's top legal post after the election'.Mr Blair, who is said to be a 'big Derry Irvine fan', apparently wants his mentor to stay and 'spearhead a new blitz on lawyers' restrictive practices which will be a key component of Labour's programme for a second term in power'.Something else that - should he stay - Lord Irvine might look at is a paper drawn up by the Society of Labour Lawyers, 'strongly condemning the present narrow composition of the judiciary and its selection system' (The Times, 8 May).

The society, of which Lord Irvine is president, has added to the recent welter of criticism by claiming that 'the system for appointing judges needs a radical overhaul so that the judiciary is no longer the preserve of an elite of white, male barristers but reflects society as a whole'.

Contrary to appearances, magistrates seem to be one judicial body not living up to stereotypes.

The Big Issue (30 April-6 May) contradicted the 'widespread assumption that all magistrates are white, middle-class, middle-aged Tory do-gooders who occupy their spare time by interfering with the justice system', by interviewing Terry Noel, a Trinidadian steel drummer who sits as a JP in his local court.

Terry is 'the perfect example of why it's vital to have people from different countries administering justice', a goal that is perhaps nearer than one may think: he describes how 'once or twice I've been in court and realised that everyone in there was black, including the three JPs and the clerk'.And finally, Lord Irvine may not realise that he has a secret vote-winning weapon at his disposal.

Gyles Brandreth, writing in The Sunday Telegraph (20 April), described how Tory backbenchers would while away boring hours in the Commons by rating the 'fanciability' of Labour women MPs.

Top of the list? Jane Kennedy, minister at the Lord Chancellor's Department.Victoria MacCallum