William Byfield's Secret E-Diary

The question is who, not what, we are waiting for  

Working in August isn’t all bad  

'My favourite Nice restaurant is in the market. It's open mainly for the market people, and shuts in August.'  – Mary Quant 

Our market may be wider than we think 

We are having another one of our soul-searching exercises in Chambers.  

The foolish re-introduction of an already silly idea  

Like a film noire ... I remembered strange wraith-like creatures, resembling my colleagues, entering a Crown court robing room at 4.30pm announcing they were there to start ‘the evening shift’ – Shareca Cole,Carpel Tunnel 

The art of writing a good reference  

‘A critic should be taught to criticise a work of art without making any reference to the personality of the author.’ – Oscar Wilde 

When should clients feel satisfied with our services?  

‘You’ve got to keep reinventing. You’ll have new competitors. You’ll have new customers all around you’ – Ginni Rometty 

A fresh coat of paint reveals uncared for buildings 

'The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining'  – John F Kennedy 

A digital case revives tragic memories  

'It is questionable if all the mechanical inventions yet made have lighteneed the day's toil of any human being' – John Stuart Mill 

Chance meetings produce a traditional Christmas  

‘Revenge is profitable; gratitude is expensive.’ – Edward Gibbon 

Law confidential?  

'A secret spoken finds wings'  – Robert Jordan, The Path of Daggers