Law firm Lawrence Graham has built something of a reputation for having unofficially adopted the primarily north American celebration of Hallowe'en as its own within the London legal community. Its eagerly anticipated annual 31 October bash is normally bedecked with goblins, ghosts and other demonic iconography. However, this year's gig focused more on the firm's planned move to new gleaming offices on the south side of Tower Bridge than to any Satanic theme. Perhaps the reason for the shift in tone was something to do with nervousness among the venue owners - the Church of Rome. For the party is intriguingly held in the crypt at St Ethelreda's, the second oldest Catholic church in England. Indeed, this year staff pointed out to Obiter that a statue of Christ had been discreetly draped with a sheet, presumably to spare the Lord and Saviour the indignity of having to view a load of lawyers slurping up booze and canapés while celebrating a pagan festival.