Party scooper
Tulkinghorn knows that keeping up to date with events in the legal market is important in difficult economic conditions.
But he does worry about Al Tamimi & Company senior partner Essam Al Tamimi, who has displayed such interest in his work that he finds it hard to put down his copy of The Lawyer, despite being at his own cocktail reception.
This picture shows Essam with his favourite reading material, enjoying a bit of ‘me’ time at his party.
HAL’ll do ya
Tulkinghorn is distressed to report that Taylor Wessing is losing the battle against the malevolent supercomputer that has taken over its offices.
Several weeks ago Tulkinghorn received emergency broadcasts from the firm’s new state-of-the-art offices that lawyers were being attacked by the office’s life support system, which is apparently styled on 2001’s HAL 9000.
First it began by blinding staff with bright, white lights, then it proceeded trying to use the lift doors to crush its human cargo.
Management has been fighting to control the machine, but it clearly has
a mind of its own. The lift doors have readapted – they now open really slowly. Tulkinghorn thinks the computer is trying to frustrate the lawyers to death.
“They’re self-teaching,” whispered managing partner Michael Frawley, looking over his shoulder. “It’s a bit of a worrying concept.”
Money plenty
Tulkinghorn has often noticed the strange relationships that lawyers have with their cars. In the past his scribes have reported on the Porsche owners’ club at Barlow Lyde & Gilbert, as well as Simon Carr of 9 Gough Square, who drives a Chimpmobile.
What seems like four wheels and a metal box to Tulkinghorn is a symbol of identity and pride to some City lawyers.
That certainly is the case for Bryan Hughes, the UK managing partner of Eversheds. One of his moles was told that Hughes glides into work inside a Jaguar XKR, which, Tulkinghorn is reliably informed, is worth around £70,000 if bought new.
To top it off, Hughes’s personalised numberplate is OO07 BGH.
If the car is the key to a lawyer’s identity, then Tulkinghorn thinks he knows now how Hughes sees himself.
Ad-arctica
Just when you thought it was safe to get back into the water without having to look at any law firms’ branding, Wedlake Bell goes ahead and sponsors Olly Hicks, who is aiming to become the first person to row solo around Antarctica.
Tulkinghorn does think it a rather odd venture for a law firm. How many general counsel are there in Antarctica to spot the Wedlake branding?
