Empty rhetoric

Last week, City law firms lined up to outdo their rivals and impress their visiting US cousins by throwing extravagant parties.

With a buffet on the Thames aboard the 'Silver Barracuda' followed by a 'flight' on the London Eye, US law firm McDermott Will & Emery could have rested on its laurels, satisfied that it had thrown possibly the best party of the star-spangled week.

But one partner could not conceal his glee when the Freshfields boat floated past on the way to the City firm's own impressive party at the Globe theatre, replete with classical actors spouting Hamlet and Elizabethan-style musicians: 'It's completely empty!' the partner crowed, adding: 'It's like the Marie-Celeste!'