When Tulkinghorn heard a couple of partners discussing 'heavy petting' down at Mipim last week, he could only assume it was in relation to the next big Cannes event – the porn festival. But he couldn't have been more wrong. The subject of discussion was actually a group of Pinsent Curtis Biddle lawyers – a pop group, that is. Apparently Heavy Petting, The Booze Band from DLA and Hot Property, a group that includes two further Pinsents lawyers, all got together last week to raise money for Acorns Children's Hospice.
Bands are always a topic of discussion at Mipim, and this year was no exception. Mrs Tulkinghorn was keen for a bit of a knees-up on the Lovells boat, only to hear that this year it was to be toned down (apparently, it was all a bit too much for some last year). Still, Lovells partner Bob Kidby was still in full force on his guitar – and there was a rather special guest performance of La Bamba. It was, however, an earlier finish than last year's performance, which went on till dawn.
This no doubt saved Kidby a certain amount of embarrassment at his hotel. Last year he apparently turned up after a hard night of socialising and asked the receptionist for a 7:30am wake-up call. The receptionist looked puzzled. “But Mr Kidby,” she said, “it's already quarter to eight.”
Another hot topic was 'poaching'. But not poaching clients, poaching venues. DJ Freeman bagged a superb penthouse, which had traditionally been used by Herbert Smith until it lost its ultimate socialite Gerald Bland to Wragges. SJ Berwin was also miffed that the Michelin-starred restaurant where the firm traditionally held its lunch was already booked. It turned out that the culprit was Osborne Clarke and that the booking had been made by Kathy Almond, the property associate that had left SJ Berwin for Osborne Clarke last year. Now taking work is one thing, but nicking restaurants? That's hardly in the spirit of Mipim – or good sportsmanship.
