The fourth emergency service

Absolutely true save that names have been changed to protect the guilty.

A couple of years ago, I returned to my office after lunch to find a message to call Bloggs, a Solicitor friend of mine on his mobile. I knew that he was on holiday in Ireland at the time with Biffo, another Solicitor friend. This is more or less how the conversation went:-

?Hello, how are you.?

?Watcha Col, we?ve broken down.?

?Have you called the AA??

?No, we?re on the shore of Lough Melvin, the boat engine?s buggered. I?ve called my Secretary in London and asked her to phone the people over here that we hired the boat from to come a rescue us, co?s we?re miles down the lough?

?What do you mean, buggered??

?It?s running, but there?s no propulsion?

?Sounds like a broken shear pin to me!?

?What?s a shear pin?

?It?s a pin that goes through the propeller and drive shaft, What sort of engine is it??

?It?s a 5 horsepower Mercury?

?Lift the cowl, and inside there should be a clip with spare shear pins?

?What?s the cowl??

?The bit that covers the engine with the pull rope sticking out of it!?

?How do I get it off??

?At the back of the cowl there is a small lever, just pull it down and it will release the cowl?

After a few seconds silence, ?Right, got it off and there is a clip with two brass pins in it!?

?OK, have you got a pair of pliers??

Nearly fall off my chair when Bloggs says, ?Yes?

?Now you need to get the propeller up out of the water?

?OK, done that Col, what next??

?Turn the propeller on the shaft to make sure the shear pin has broken, it will turn quite freely if it has?

?OK, done that, it is turning freely?

?On the propeller cone there?s a split pin?

?What?s a split pin Col??

?It?s a metal pin, the ends splay out sideways to stop it falling out of the hole that it is through?

?Oh right that thing?

?Yes that thing, use the pliers to bend the arms back, take it out of the hole and the cone will the come of the shaft. Don?t lose the pin!?

?Right, done that?

?Now pull the propeller of?

?OK, done that?

?Now, clear the broken bit of shear pin from the hole, replace the propeller and align the holes and then put one of the spare pins in?

?OK, done that?

?Put everything back together, start her up and off you go?

After a short delay, ?OK Boyo, its running, we?ve got propulsion so we?re off fishing now, cheers mate, see you when we get back to London.?

Just another day for the fourth emergency service of Chancery Lane.

Take your hat off to yourself Colin, at least he knew the right man to call.

And we trust our legal fate to these sorts of people? Heaven help us!


Shakes head from side to side……

I think you should name them, so we the unwary can avoid them at all costs. :0)

Phil,

No disredpect intended mate, but you probably could not afford the hourly rate either of these lads charge unless you're ICI or similar. One's a Partner in one of the "Magic Circle" firms (that is the Top Ten) and the other is a Partner in another firm who specialises in entertainment law.

In both cases, very clever and intellectual
academically but like so many of their contempories, not very practical. Ask them a really difficult question about the Law and they'll be on it straight away. Ask them which is the right end of a screwdriver and they'd have to think quite hard about it.

The term 'Horses for Courses ' springs to mind ....

Too right!

Most of the solicitors I ever met,during my career,and there were quite a few, were well rounded individuals,most of them also liked a drink.
Shame I never met one to fish with.

So Ed, you reckon I'm a horse then.... LOL (not serious)

Fred, working in the Letgal Profession, as I do, I've met lots of Solicitors and barristers that fish. Most, if not all, are fine people.

The most I met were commercial property related lawyers,liked too much of the easy life, to go slumming it on the river banks!!

the best one i had was changing a wheel on the side of the road, got a call saying i got a puncture, can you change the wheel, so i went to the car and started to change it, when the gent in question let drop that he runs a chain of garages in the area, but that he didnt have a clue when it came to cars and that it wasnt that he didnt want to get dirty by changing the wheel, but that he didnt know how.