Pride shines through

Justice has finally been done in the Sally Clark case.

The horrendous miscarriage of justice perpetrated three years ago has eventually been reversed and a broken-hearted mother has at last been allowed out of jail to grieve for her babies.

But, as Ms Clark said herself on the steps of the Court of Appeal, there are no winners here - two young boys are dead, one has grown up without his mother, and a family bears the scars.

Despite this, probably the only professionals to emerge with any credit from this experience are the lawyers.

While the press crowed and some medics bungled, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal made the first public statement of doubt by deciding not to strike Ms Clark off.

And working behind the scenes was an army of solicitors - many acting on a pro bono basis - sifting through papers, petitioning for appeals and trying to right the wrongs.

Retired solicitor John Batt worked on the case for three-and-a-half years.

Marilyn Stowe, partner at Grahame Stowe Bateson, was key in finding the 'smoking gun' evidence to clear Ms Clark.

Mike Mackey at Burton Copeland took the case to its final conclusion.

And solicitor and media relations consultant Sue Stapely was instrumental in getting the case to a wider public audience.

Leading all this was Sally's husband, City solicitor Steve Clark.

It is pretty rare for the legal profession to be portrayed in a good public light, and even rarer for solicitors to have a chance to feel proud of their profession and remember why they became lawyers in the first place.

This is one of those times.