Pseudo-sado-lawyer in black leatherObiter wonders what the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf, meant when he referred to the skills of a 'black leather lawyer' in a draft version of his Upjohn lecture last week.

Lord Woolf was set to tell the audience what makes a good lawyer: 'They must be able to analyse problems and, having done so, find the correct solutions.

That requires not only the skills of a traditional black leather lawyer but also the ability to identify the broad principles which are involved in creating a just society subject to the rule of law...

The pressures on the young lawyer today, whether an academic, a solicitor or a barrister, are growing continuously more intense.' But sado-masochism is not the answer.

Lawyers would be well advised to stick to black letter law.