Poles apart

The wolves are circling, the temperature is dropping, and darkness is all around. No, Obiter isn’t getting lyrical about the credit crunch and recession, but simply describing the icy reality soon to be experienced by a client of Sussex law firm Rix & Kay. Managing partner Bruce Hayter explains: ‘We are legal advisers to an expedition going to the North Pole to study the impact of global warming on the Arctic ice shelf. The contracts we have drawn up pay more than a passing nod to force majeure – polar bears, blizzards, wolves and the rest are a real likelihood!’ Hayter adds that hearing the explorers’ tales of frostbite and other dangers has convinced him his destiny lies behind a desk in a heated office – and nowhere near the Arctic Circle. Any lawyers out there who have braved the Arctic?