American business and IP lawyers tend to be straight talkers. They use simpler language and more direct styles of expression than their cousins in Australia.

What about cousins in London? Long ago, a barrister friend of mine said to me: "The bar in Sydney is more conservative than the bar in London, more English than the English." He was speaking about the social politics and modes of expression used in courts in Sydney and London. My friend has practised extensively in both cities.

Admiring straight talk as I do, it was a delight this week to see street protesting lawyers in Lahore (could be a good title for another song by The Clash). They used very plain verbal and body language (see photo) against this week's Proclamation of Emergency, the suspension of the Constitution and the imposition of emergency restrictions.

Then today via my RSS feed an interview arrived with a straight talking United States intellectual property lawyer, Andrew Bridges. I commend to you Litigation as a negotiation strategy featured on the Silicon Valley venture capital blog, Lightspeed Venture Partners.