The pan-European summit that is the twice-yearly Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) plenary session is not all work and no play, the continent's lawyers will be pleased to know.

At the plenary in Brussels earlier this month, the traditional dinner was enlivened by a variety of lawyers, CCBE staff and other key figures in the Brussels legal firmament putting on 'Blanche Neige [Snow White] and the seven dwarves in CCBE Land'.

It told the sad story of Blanche Neige, who lived with her wicked step-mother Maria Monti (a thinly veiled swipe at CCBE nemesis, EU competition commissioner Mario Monti).

One day, Maria discovered that Blanche Neige had been secretly training as a lawyer, and in a rage accused her of money laundering and banished her from Lawland.

Poor Blanche Neige then wandered aimlessly through the internal market until reaching CCBE Land, where she met the dwarves - such as the competition dwarf (the Law Society's head of EU and WTO affairs, June O'Keeffe, who also co-wrote the script), the ADR dwarf and the deontology (ethics) dwarf.

Suffice it to say that, after the wolf from Red Riding Hood made a surprise appearance (in the guise of former CCBE president and leading Austrian lawyer Rupert Wolff), things turned out well for Blanche Neige, and Europe's lawyers united in a way that would warm the heart of Romano Prodi for a rousing final song to the tune of 'YMCA' - 'We are all members of the CCBE'.