Who says sharks are all lawyers? Obiter spotted one in this picture of Stockport firm SAS celebrating the opening of new 1.5 million headquarters and he doesn't, so far as we know, hold a practising certificate and bill 2,000 hours of chargeable time a year.

Sharkie, as he is cryptically called, claims instead to be the mascot of Sale Sharks rugby team, and only came - along with football club Stockport County's Vernon Bear - to add gravitas to the launch party.

Such photo opportunities are all grist to the mill for lawyers at SAS, who chose to celebrate their merger and new name with a picture of themselves in an armoured car.

Pictured left to right are Sharkie, Mark Lillis (Stockport County assistant manager), Phillip Smith (SAS partner), Sandra Sinclair (SAS partner), Sammy Mcllroy (Stockport County manager), Jonathan Whittaker (SAS partner), Vernon.

This article refers to images that appear in the printed edition:[2004] Gazette, 25 March, page 14