Former Supreme Court president Lord Neuberger showed his musical side this week. No, he did not exactly burst into song while delivering the keynote address at London International Disputes Week. However, he wondered aloud if he was ‘expected to provide the equivalent of a physical key with which to open the door to the topics and discussions of the day’ or whether he was meant to provide the ‘musical key for the tunes to be sung by the participants during the day’.

Keeping with the musical analogy, Neuberger thought some court hearings were like a JS Bach cantata (‘spare, harmonious, serene’) and others more reminiscent of Dadaist noise music. Mediation? It was suggested to him that jazz might fit the bill.

Dame Shirley Bassey

Also picking up a musical theme was Sarah Abram KC of Brick Court Chambers. Abram assured a packed session on the future of collective redress that her personal mentor on the topic was Dame Shirley Bassey (pictured). Several songs in Dame Shirley’s repertoire illustrate the current state of the burgeoning sector: Obiter’s favourite was ‘Big Spender’, but Abram also managed to work in ‘Diamonds Are Forever’, ‘In The Still Of The Night’ – and, of course, ‘the man with the Midas touch’ from Goldfinger.

Obiter detected a definite smile on the face of her co-panellist, class action crusader Walter Merricks CBE, at that particular analogy.

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