The hubris of the motto has a funny way of catching up on people. Take Brobeck Phleger & Harrison.

It is, of course, a fine firm. But like most other tech outfits it has not exactly been living it up of late – what with the dotcom crash and last week’s decision of its European joint venture Brobeck Hale and Dorr to lay off seven associates.
And its motto? ‘When your future is at stake’.