Many thanks to the wonderfully monikered Romana St Matthew-Daniel, press officer for the International Bar Association (IBA), for the classy response to a 2 October diary story on the organisation’s latest get-together in Chicago.

Readers may remember the tale featured the ubiquitous Mark Stephens, who claimed to have walked 27 miles at the IBA’s conference in September. Stephens, you may recall, knew this because the IBA had kindly furnished delegates with pedometers.

A week later came the following: “Dear Tulkinghorn, various sources suggest that the average human burns off approximately 95 calories per mile while walking. On this basis, Mr Stephens would have burnt off just over 2,500 calories, or the equivalent of 3.2 whole cheese and tomato pizzas, by participating in what has proved to be IBA’s most successful annual conference to date.

“It should be noted that the IBA, while happy to ask delegates to pay for the top-quality session content and networking opportunities offered in Chicago, has levied no additional fees in light of the obvious fitness benefits enjoyed by those attending. As the global voice of the legal profession, the IBA is more than happy to be contributing to both the professional and physical development of its members.”