Obiter

Stand back, think of England

Depressed about the World Cup? Here's a little bit more to mourn about.

A team of London lawyers managed to be very English and lose two penalty shoot-outs on their way to a respectable 13th position out of 42 in the legal profession's World Cup, 'Mundiavocat', held recently in Malta.

Having reached the last 16, they succumbed to an Argentinian team, then to a French side in the play-offs for the lower placings, being very British by giving those countries something to cheer about after their abject failures at the real World Cup.

They then won twice more on the way to 13th place, although they would apparently have finished higher on any extra-curricular activities table.

But Matt Smith - Slaughter and May's answer to Rivaldo - was named best player of the tournament.

LINKS: www.londonlawyersfc.co

Still going strong

Giving your rivals a gentle kicking is an ancient art, but rarely do firms to put it in writing; far better to do it unattributably over lunch and publicly maintain the illusion that we're all friends.

So hats off to Leeds firm Walker Morris for a recent press release which began: 'Although Addleshaw Booth & Co have recently slashed their Leeds PFI and public sector department, the team at Walker Morris has never been busier.'

On the pro bono bandwagon

Ah, the joys of marketing spin and hyperbole.

A fine example comes from Manchester: 'Leading law firm Halliwell Landau was yesterday praised for its pro bono work by the Attorney-General, Lord Peter Goldsmith QC.' We are the last to knock any law firm's pro bono activities, but a closer look at the firm's press release reveals that Lord Goldsmith did not single out the firm for special praise.

He was visiting Manchester University's school of law legal advice centre as part of the recent national pro bono week, where 'he took time to thank the university, the students, the solicitors involved - including Halliwell Landau's Gayle Whelan - for "their hard work and effort".' So thumbs up to her, thumbs down to the firm for trying to take the credit.

Raymond's angels: lethal partnership

There is no particular reason for the press release and this picture sent to us of Donns' partners Claire Burns, Hilary Meredith and Lesley Casey posing as Charlie's Angels, so far as Obiter can tell, other than to sing the praises of the Manchester firm's catastrophic injuries team.

Rumours that senior partner Raymond Donn is never seen and insists that staff only contact him through speaker phones are, we are assured, false.

It is more likely, given his penchant for wearing menacing all-black ensembles, that he sits in his office all day, laughing to himself, stroking a cat and planning to take over the entire Manchester legal market.

Point-scoring: What lawyer hasn't shanked that winning putt on the 18th green in an effort to cosy up with a client? But north-west firm Mace & Jones has taken this fine principle to extremes by pitting its women's football team against an all-male client team.

Unsurprisingly, the women lost heavily to construction and property development company Pochin.

Mace & Jones litigator and team captain Emma McAndry posed for pictures with Pochin skipper Jim Nicholson, having had to take up his offer to mix the teams after a one-sided first half, but promised better from her side in the return.