Pick up a penguin suit

It's good to know that in these days of great change in the profession, some traditions - specifically the honourable practice of getting the most out of trainee solicitors - remain untouched.

Forster Dean in Liverpool recently offered support to the city's Goodbye Litter campaign, launched as part of its bid to be European capital of culture, by providing refreshments to the volunteers who spent hours unsticking chewing gum from pavements and the like.

But the curiosity item here is the penguin who did the handing out.

Obiter understands that the firm's sole principal, Peter Forster-Dean, saw the costume in a fancy dress shop near its Runcorn office and thought it would be a spiffing idea if trainee Paul Stanley - who had only joined a couple of weeks before - dressed up in it for the occasion.

Why, we have no idea, but if you had just embarked on your legal career and your boss asked you to dress up like Pingu, what would you do? Young Paul duly did as he was asked with little complaint, we're told, and at least his mates couldn't tell it was him.