In the 1950 Oscar-winning film 'Harvey', James Stewart stars as a likeable, delusional drunk called Elwood P Dowd, who introduces strangers to his best friend, a six-foot tall invisible white rabbit.

When Manchester-based property lawyer and keen fan of the film Stephen Goodman (pictured) set up his own practice last year he naturally decided to give it a silent partner in tribute to the lapine hero. Indeed the rabbit's presence is felt throughout Goodman Harvey, appearing in its branding and office decoration. The headed paper even includes a Harvey watermark.


Luckily, Mr Goodman's fondness for the giant fluffy animal has afforded him better fortune than it did Mr Dowd, whose sister tries to have him committed to an asylum.


Now the niche firm is sponsoring Manchester Royal Exchange's Christmas production of Mary Chase's Pulitzer Prize winning play - on which the film was based - and Mr Goodman finally got to meet his floppy-eared friend.


Continuing on a thespian theme, lawyers keen to tread the boards are again being invited to audition for a part in a production at the Tricycle in Kilburn, north London. Previous all-lawyer productions at the theatre have included '12 Angry Men' and 'Are you now or have you ever been?'


The next production is 'Inherit the Wind', a dramatisation of a famous US trial in 1925 that saw John Scopes prosecuted for teaching the theory of evolution. Large, friendly carrot-munchers could be thin on the ground. Auditions will take place on 5, 6, and 7 December and the play will run from 23-26 March. For information, contact Charlotte Hardie, e-mail: lawyers@tricycle.co.uk, tel: 020 7372 6611.