Every dog has its day

Being self-confident and self-assured certainly comes with the territory of a legal career.

And judging by her website (www.gillianhoward.co.uk), employment lawyer Gillian Howard has confidence in abundance.

Describing herself as the "rottweiler with a handbag" and "the iron fist with a velvet glove", one can only assume Howard was going for a Thatcheresque image.

Her home page is made all the more piquant by a picture of a rottweiler holding a handbag in its teeth.

When potential clients delve a little deeper and explore the website fully, they find details of her family members (including her cocker spaniel Dante), a long list of published works and a description of herself as a "highly trained academic mind in advising employers and individuals. It is this that makes her so unusual."

Tulkinghorn disagrees. In the legal profession, describing oneself as a rottweiler and publishing details of one's pets on a business website is slightly more unusual.