The dedication shown by two UK Sidley Austin Brown & Wood partners to make it to their annual partnership conference beggars belief. Consider this a lesson to all slack-jawed, mealy-mouthed whiners complaining about a late night in the office.

The two intrepid souls were determined to make it to somewhere restful in the Midwest for the conference – nothing would stand in their way. But the gods of law were minded to conspire against the heroic brace. So, after two hours in the air, their plane ran out of drinking water, necessitating a diversion to Baffin Island to restock. There the crew found the only available water was frozen, meaning a two-hour wait for it to thaw out, during which time the plane was refuelled. Then, as the plane prepared for take-off, it emerged that only one fuel tank had been filled.

Twenty-four hours later, the pair got to the US – but only to a motel in Detroit, graciously paid for by the airline. Tulkinghorn reckons that even Detroit might have been preferable to compulsory team-building and wall-to-wall Powerpoint.