This is the last In the City before Christmas so I’m aiming for a traditional pantomime effect, with a heart-wrenching tragedy in Act I as Widow Twanky is evicted from her Home Sweet Home

The curtain rises on Tooks Chambers where tomorrow evening everyone’s favourite Principal Boy, Michael Mansfield, QC, will open an exhibition of paintings by Ricky Romain on the theme In the Absence of Justice, organised in conjunction with Dartington Creative Enterprise (a new initiative of the distinguished Dartington College of Arts).

The reception will be a living tableau of the conscience of the nation with representatives from Amnesty International and Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID) strongly in evidence. Tooks Chambers positions itself very much on the side of Father Christmas — “Law in the service of human rights” is its catchphrase — and the images of isolated and abused detainees will certainly give pause for thought for those more inclined to relish jollity at this time of year. (The exhibition runs until the end of February so if you have no stomach for it before the Christmas blow-out you can sober up with it in the new year.)

No mincing please

Through the magic of the pantomime we now go back in time — to last Thursday — where at Baron Hardup’s mansion (aka the Law Society in Chancery Lane) Hextalls put on an amusing little mock mediation to highlight how seasonal goodwill goes a long way towards solving disputes.

The scenario was one familiar to us all — mince pies containing more than one had expected or wished for. In this case the unwelcome additions were dead flies and the Hextalls’s partners took on the roles of Dickensian solicitors Sikes and Bumble from law firms Tulkinghorn & Co. and Kenge and Carboy to dispute the case.

Acting as the Fairy Godmother Mediator was Elizabeth Birch, of the dispute resolution group ACI, who sprinkled stardust over her audience as they marvelled at the way she brokered a resolution of the row based on common sense and mutual interest. A fairytale, indeed. (Fortunately there were no flies on the delicious Leith’s mince pies served to the grateful guests.)

Shimmer and shine

I need a transformation scene to end this pantomime — ideally a partnership of money-grasping solicitors who unmask to reveal themselves as glittery good fairies. Actually, there are candidates out there. Michael Smyth, for example, at Clifford Chance, is doing a very good job in focusing arguably London’s top law firm on its wider community responsibilities. And much the same is happening at other leading firms such as Linklaters and Allen & Overy. The real transformation has been in the way that top firms acknowledge the importance of this obligation in a way never dreamt of 20 years ago.

Curtain call

Every Christmas has its rituals and normally at this point I reveal the fun-filled caper that Lewis Silkin has got up to for the entertainment of its friends. But nothing so far, I’m afraid. I’m assured by the firm’s Buttons that when it does arrive it will have been worth the wait. I’ll have to keep you guessing until the new year. So do have a lovely Christmas, boys and girls. And to the lawyers among you, a plea — do think about your clients as you tuck into the turkey. After all, they have paid for it.

edward.fennell@yahoo.co.uk

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