It has been one hell of a year, but how much of it do you remember?
January
A Clifford Chance trainee hit headlines at the start of 2015. But was it for…?
a) Refusing to work beyond 5pm.
b) Defecating in the firm’s on-site swimming pool.
c) Posting a YouTube rant regarding the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris.
d) He was called Clifford Chance.
February
What did one aspiring lawyer attach to a job application at Clyde & Co?
a) A picture of Charlotte Proudman.
b) A picture of his pet snake.
c) A photograph of her drunk in Ibiza.
d) A selfie of her outside the firm’s offices.
March
Lord Harley of Counsel — aka Alan Blacker — gained wide public attention this year. But which of the following did he not claim back in March on his LinkedIn profile?
a) A bilingual proficiency in Urdu and Punjabi.
b) He patented a weapon named “The Hedgehog”.
c) He was awarded the Order of St John.
d) He made it to the third round of Britain’s Got Talent for his Meatloaf impersonation.
April
Lawyers at US giant Weil Gotshal were left furious after an April fool’s joke emailed by the firm’s chief talent officer dramatically back fired. But what did she do?
a) Emailed staff telling them that their bonuses had been retracted.
b) Emailed staff telling them office dress code had been relaxed, resulting in a paralegal arriving to work in a denim jacket.
c) Emailed staff informing them that no emails would be sent between 11pm and 6am in order to improve work life-balance.
d) Emailed staff informing them that the firm was in financial difficulties and jobs were at risk.
May
What did a former Clyde & Co and Herbert Smith Freehills lawyer say in his autobiography?
a) “I went on plenty of random dates, having casual sex, one night stands and seeing girls from work.”
b) “We had sex in meeting rooms, toilet cubicles, on the stairs, and over the desk after hours.”
c) “One girl I picked up from a club queue I took back to the office. But when I cleaned up and took the bin out, I didn’t realise the used condom had fallen out.”
d) All of the above.
June
Trainee lawyers at top London media law firm Clintons were made to do what this summer as part of a team building exercise?
a) Go on a team holiday to Magaluf.
b) Play hide & seek with the partners in Covent Garden.
c) Paint their London office.
d) Hitchhike to Glasgow.
July
In July of this year Legal Cheek revealed that Lincoln’s Inn was building what?
a) An education suite in its basement.
b) A lawn tennis club.
c) A factory that would produce barristers’ wigs.
d) A bronze statue in honour of Lincoln’s Inn member Cherie Booth QC.
August
In a year that saw many corporate firms throw extra cash at their junior lawyer talent, which firm raised it’s NQ pay packet to a staggering £101,500, shooting it to the top of the City pay league table?
a) Linklaters.
b) Slaughter and May.
c) Sullivan & Cromwell.
d) Tuckers.
September
Barrister turned feminist campaigner Charlotte Proudman publicly shamed City lawyer Alexander Carter-Silk for his apparent sexist behaviour this year. But what had he done?
a) Signed off an email with kisses.
b) Complimented her on her “stunning” LinkedIn profile picture.
c) Referred to her as “love” in a conference.
d) Claimed he was “surprised” she was a barrister.
October
Furnival Chambers’ barrister Richard Hearnden was left red-faced after it was revealed that he was what?
a) The man in the ‘Crazy Man Shouts at Kids’ YouTube video that went viral earlier this year.
b) Chairman of the Amal Clooney fan club.
c) Chairman of the George Clooney fan club.
d) A part-time male stripper named ‘Briefs’.
November
In early November Chelsea FC-mad corporate lawyer Clive O’Connell lost his job after being caught on camera referring to Liverpool fans as what?
a) Glory hunters.
b) Scouse scum.
c) Red bastards.
d) Tracksuit-clad morons.
December
Judge Charles Gratwicke allowed a defendant to sit with who/what during a hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court earlier this month?
a) His pet cat.
b) His mum.
c) The Lord Chief Justice Sir John Thomas.
d) A life-size cardboard cut-out of Judge Rinder.
The answers are here.
Happy Christmas from the Legal Cheek team! Thanks for reading and commenting, and we’ll see you in 2016.