Firm’s retail therapy has bags of appeal.

With the Ratko Mladić appeal at The Hague yet to get going, Obiter has a bit of time to fill. Thanks then to Charles Russell Speechlys for an invite to the firm’s ‘Luxury Retail Showcase’. The evening, at Somerset House, featured stalls superintended by entrepreneurs who talked about and demonstrated their goods (some, though not all, were clients).

There was fizz by West Sussex winery Nyetimber – worth knowing about in case post-Brexit trade with France is less frictionless that champagne-drinking lawyers hope. There were some very pretty things in leather by ‘Tinct’, a brother and sister team; hand-painted slippers from ‘Duke & Dexter’ (also a great name for a law firm); a stall where guests were invited to ‘build your own cheesecake’. And much, much more.

But what was drawing the attention of lawyers? Obiter thinks it’s handbags. ‘Lawyers are our best customers,’ Sarah Haran, who started making bags as a hobby, told Obiter. They’re especially keen on the ‘Dahlia’ model – an extraordinary and good size bag with lots of organised compartments and medium clutch on the outside, which acts like a side-pocket, but detaches.

Perfect, then, for a high-profile trial from which Obiter can head for an evening out in the Netherlands.

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