The wave of discontent that threatens to engulf Chancery Lane bears many of the same hallmarks as the grassroots rebellion against so-called political correctness that knocked it squarely off course in the mid-1990s.

This time around the threat to the Law Society comes from the left, in the shape of a group led by the high-profile criminal lawyer Imran Khan, as opposed to the right, in the shape of Martin Mears.