Smash hit

Jonathan Hirst, QC, the former Chairman of the Bar Council, said in May 2000 that he wanted rogue barristers suspended or disbarred amid concerns among young entrants to the profession that sexual harassment and bullying remain widespread.

ROLLONFRIDAY

Some of the recent correspondence on the rollonfriday website:

Pumpkin: Matthew knows who the author is but isn’t telling...

Cyrian: The whole thing is frickin’ ridiculous. What are these promotions that people get for being attractive?

Pumpkin: The ones you get after a candle-lit interview.

Suretisonlymoi: In fact . . . surely law is a world for ugly people. You get promoted (ie partnership) if you are prepared to give up all other aspects of your life. As you get more senior, you give up more and more and sink into munt-dom. Therefore, in order to give the impression that you are senior and have no life, you need to be ugly. Beauty is for losers.

Cyrian: I’m probably going to be laughed off this site but is it true then? How many people here can say that they have seen these sort of sexually fuelled power games determine a trainee’s career?

Cyrian again: Correction — it’s a world where a smart, but ugly guy can get to the top, achieve god-like status within his comfort sphere and then start plundering the 22 y/o blondes that hang on his every word.

Aloysius2: Suretis — when it comes to selecting your next trainee, the more senior guys get their first choice. When you’re only taking on a form-filler and copy girl, why bother with the one with a face like a robber’s dog?

Suretisonlymoi: If promotion for women was contingent on their attractiveness, all City firms would be stuffed to the gills with stunning junior partners . . .

Cyprian: But the lemon in the cleavage story?

Suretisonlymoi: Highly unlikely, but I have heard a first-hand account of a seccy at a MC firm who got a boob job then showed all her team, and let a few of the associates feel them.

Pumpkin: Are you saying the partners in your department munt?

Cyprian: Yes. Surely you aren’t disputing that?

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