To hell and back

Before I moved to the metropolis, I enjoyed a variety of commutes, from a 4.30am cycle to a Royal Mail sorting office (when I was much younger and required less sleep) to a gentle two-minute stroll door to door, and on to a daily intercity slog between Sheffield and Leeds.

Even making this cross-country trip on a bank holiday didn't prepare me for the experience of London during an RMT strike.

This may, or may not, be Bob Crow's doing from beyond the grave (see last week's legacy planning feature), but, as I write this, I am in a state of transportation torment.

I don't know much about hell, but I am pretty sure it's an unpleasant place to be. I think of it as the place where it's impossible to escape all the things you hate, the foibles and probably the people too. I can't for a moment believe that all the people who annoy me could actually benefit from the afterlife, so they must end up down there. So, it seems, is true of travelling during a tube strike.

Overground, things are, at first appearance, much the same as usual. The queues at the bus stops are perhaps a little longer than usual, maybe a few more people are wandering the streets, staring down, iPhones in hand and looking confused.

Then you see the faces: crushed into carriages and coaches, hopelessly staring, contorted like an Edvard Munch painting left out in the spring rain and pushed against a steamy window occupied by 72 previous faces that morning.

On the way home, after a short walk between stations and managing to find a seat on the train, things seem much better. That was until I received an actual (and proverbial) slap in the face from a fellow commuter. I was assured it was an accident as we both lunged for the door (I didn't recognise her from a rival publication) but I was too relieved to make it back to the peaceful, quiet, leafy surroundings of north London to care.

Even then, the strike chatter continued on the news with an apparent 'expert' talking about brokering a 'peace deal' between London Underground and the union.

Industrial action, peace processes and any kind of political negotiation requires teams of lawyers to be working behind the scenes to make sure what is agreed and announced in public can be made to work in practice.

Politicians are very often at the front, taking the respective credit for brokering a deal or standing their ground, but the legal bases for action or agreement are more complex than a simple press release.

So when the post gets delayed, the train is cancelled or your baggage doesn't immediately follow you to Torremolinos, take comfort in knowing that there's a lawyer behind that.

The breakdown in service across the capital has at least prompted some training ahead of the tenth annual London Legal Walk taking place on 19 May. The SJ editorial team will be taking part and would like to hear about the other walks taking place. It provides a
fantastic opportunity to bring members of
the profession together and raise some
much-needed funds for the legal support trusts.

Further information and dates for all regional walks can be found on the Access To Justice Foundation website. 

Kevin Poulter is editor at large of Solicitors Journal