Warrior instincts

The success of Manchester claimant personal injury firm Amelans in fighting off the insurance industry in both Callery v Gray and Sarwar v Alam has rather gone to the heads of partners Martin Cockx and Andrew Twambley, Obiter fears.

Interviewed in the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers journal, the pair seem to be aligning themselves closely with Maximus Decimus Meridius, the gladiator played by Russell Crowe.

Asked what is next on their agenda after two Court of Appeal cases in two months, Mr Cockx replied: 'There will always be someone to fight, Maximus.' And Mr Twambley later said that 'we see ourselves more as gladiators taking on the might of the Roman Empire'.

But the nobility of their cause is somewhat ruined by Mr Twambley's explanation as to why he became a lawyer.

'When I was 17 and doing teaching training in Blackpool, I went to baby-sit for a local solicitor whom I discovered had a circular bath and gold-plated taps,' he explained.

'The next morning, I jacked in teacher training and applied for the law course at Liverpool Polytechnic.'