Daily Diary

Last tango with Parish

Posted 30/10/2006 by legalweekblogs.com SU

Like King Canute ordering back the tides, Norton Rose global head of finance and chief fixer Stephen Parish last month flew out to Dubai in a doomed attempt to persuade partners Nadim Khan and Zubair Mir not to leave for City rival Herbert Smith.

His valiant efforts were, sadly, to no avail – just as they were when a four-partner securitisation team jumped ship for Baker & McKenzie last year and when another four-partner nuclear family from leveraged finance upped sticks for Allen & Overy back in 2002.

“I think of Parish as Clark Kent,” one former Norton Rose partner joked this week, “donning his Superman outfit each time there is a crisis and flying into action to save the day.”

Certainly the image of a caped Parish soaring over the Square Mile with his pants over his pinstripes is an appealing one.

Still, Parish has competition on the superhero front. Recently-launched comic-book counsel Attorney Man is the creation of legal consultant of Karen Katz and artist Raul Gonzalez and aims to educate partners on the joys of business development. Sceptical readers can sate their curiosity here. Er, enjoy.

While the big-budget Hollywood screen adaptation is probably some way off yet, The Diary eagerly awaits the first comic-book crossover between Attorney Man, Peter Martyr and the Swamp Thing, due out sometime next year.

'We'll always have Parish - even if the rest quit'