The Law Gazette recently mused that it had spent much time trying to work out why the president of the French bar is called le battonnier or ‘stick person’ as the newspaper helpfully translated for any readers who struggled with their French language exams.
So obsessed with this point became The Gazette that it actually put the question to the current president of the Paris bar, Christiane Feral-Schuhl.
She put the publication out of its misery by explaining that, at the end of their terms, French bar leaders are presented with a traditional symbol of office that bears a striking, stick-like resemblance to a shepherd’s crook. Were French lawyers a bit like sheep, then? The Gazette asked. Ms Feral-Schuhl made her excuses and left.