Tulkinghorn: Links late and the party's over

Crunch dunce

A Slaughter and May ­partner was overheard recently recounting this gem: “I was in a phone conference about a year and a half ago with clients who told me that they were ­having problems raising funds due to something called the credit crunch. I said, ‘Credit crunch? That sounds like some sort of breakfast cereal!’ They ­didn’t say anything.”

And this from the firm that oversaw the legal side of the bank bailout.

Dressed to excess

Chris Saul’s appearance at The Lawyer’s Hot 100 party in suit and bow tie raised some eyebrows.

Had the dapper Slaughter and May senior ­partner overdressed for the occasion? Saul was quick to explain to everyone he met that he had a (surely inferior) black-tie event to rush off to. However, ­Linklaters’ Charlie Jacobs and Simon Davies were ­having none of it. “Good to see you’re moonlighting as a waiter tonight,” quipped Jacobs, taking a glass from Saul’s hand.

Abs-olutely fabulous

Two topics of conversation dominated The Lawyer’s Hot 100 party – the economy and ­President Barack Obama. The party in the City coincided with the party in Washington DC. (Which could explain the absence from the Royal Exchange of recently knighted DLA Piper boss Sir Big Nige, who has been seen on these pages fraternizing with the big man in DC.)

Most of those gathered at The Lawyer’s party arrived fresh from watching Obama’s inauguration. Many were in awe of his oratorical skills, some were greeting a new dawn, while others were just relieved to see the back of Bush.

But one male Linklaters partner was just in awe of Obama’s abs. “There’s a picture of him in his swimming trunks in his book,” he exclaimed. “You should check it out.”

Links late to the party

Linklaters’ New World cull – brought to you exclusively by The Lawyer last week – has already had some ­unexpected effects. One is the relief amid other magic circle firms that Links has had to adjust itself to the downturn.

“We’ve given them all cover – it’s about time they followed us into the open,” lamented one Clifford Chance partner.

A partner from another magic circle firm had other things in mind as the ­Linklaters story broke. “God,” he said. “That’s so big it puts everything else into the shade. I’m going to take all my trainees lap-dancing tonight – nobody would even notice.”

Long name of the law

If you’re a lawyer called Anand who has teamed with another lawyer called Anand, you’ve already got problems when it comes to marketing. But none quite as severe as your web address. So spare a thought for India’s Anand & Anand, which is forced to ask clients and other ­interested parties to log on to www.anandand anand.com. A web address that just seems to go onandonandonandonandon…

The party’s over, boys

With the UK economy officially in recession and real estate clients ­suffering, there is only one question on the minds of hardworking real estate partners: do we get to go to real estate knees-up Mipim this year?

The answer in some cases is yes, but there is to be no quaffing champagne, no enormous yacht and you absolutely better had come back with something other than a suntan and a hangover to show for it. Real estate lawyers ­everywhere are, of course, outraged with this miserly nitpicking from ­management.

Except one Freshfields lawyer. The thought that organiser Reed MIDEM – which for the past decade has pretty much had Cannes sewn up with its exorbitant prices – might be struggling to get the punters in actually brought a smile to his face. But as Reed MIDEM is a client of Freshfields, perhaps his mirth is a ­little ill-founded.

Afghan bound

Head of BPP Law School Peter Crisp is taking his life in his hands this summer. No, he is not going on a package holiday to ­Tenerife, but he will ­complete his lifelong ambition of ­visiting all the ‘stans’ in Central Asia by trekking through a remote part of Afghanistan. One hopes it is remote enough to avoid any Taliban rebels, drug-smuggling warlords or patrolling SAS squads.

Knowing that the jaunt will not include any creature comforts, Tulkinghorn is collecting copies of other legal ­journals to aid Crisp when nature calls.