I recall someone giving me a very helpful hint to the effect that when shaking hands and networking you should repeat your name and describe what you do, not your occupation.

So I became “Judith, Judith who helps people at a time of relationship breakdown,” rather than “Judith, a divorce lawyer.” The description has served me well but I glean that it is about to be supplanted.

With the announcement on her blog of her separation from her husband Chris Martin, Gwyneth Paltrow has introduced unsuspecting divorce lawyers to a new phrase: “conscious uncoupling,” which inevitably makes me and others like me Conscious Uncouplers!

I can’t wait for a networking event to try that one out!