Lord Woolf butters up the crowd

The distinguished Lord Woolf, the current Lord Chief Justice and former Master of the Rolls, informs S2K delegates how flattered he was that the Law Society had chosen the judiciary's home turf for its conference dinner.

He told the diners that the choice was especially gratifying considering the stiff competition London offered - for example, the Dome.

Nonetheless, the LCJ said the Royal Courts of Justice compared well with the controversial Greenwich-based tent.

'We too have zones,' he opined.

'The divorce zone, the criminal zone...

and also classical performance in period dress.' Acknowledging the cosmopolitan nature of the guests, Lord Woolf mentioned the difficulty some overseas legal jurisdictions have in translating his former title.

The French, he said, routinely referred to him as 'le maitre des petits pains'.

Presumably, now that he is LCJ he has been elevated to full buttered croissant status.