黑洞社区

锘縃old the front page: could this be the first time ever 黑洞社区 has bought a pint for more women than men? The Trowers & Hamlins contentious construction law team has a fascinating ratio of five females to three males. It鈥檚 probably also the first time 黑洞社区 has bought a pint in a bar themed around vegetation. The Folly has the look of a jungle, with rows of palms and a ceiling-high tree trunk growing next to the bar. You might even say we鈥檙e turning over鈥� a new leaf?

Ben, perhaps a little too chuffed at the arrival of his new baby over the Christmas break, 鈥渁ccidentally鈥� drinks from my ale almost by way of introduction. But I shouldn鈥檛 take this personally, says Sue - this is a man with a penchant for other people鈥檚 food and drink. 鈥淗e once ate the remains of a lamb chop from a stranger鈥檚 plate for a 拢10 bet,鈥� she remembers. Ben doesn鈥檛 seem to regret it, perhaps because he needs the money to fund his second most expensive habit, other than his newborn: Apple products. 鈥淲hen I found out the baby wasn鈥檛 made by Apple, I wasn鈥檛 interested,鈥� he jokes. We hope.

The unintended consequences of iThings for Christmas seems to be a common theme at T&H. Theresa got her boyfriend an iPad, but she was rather too generous. 鈥淗e now takes it everywhere; the bedroom, the bathroom, the living room, the kitchen. It鈥檚 basically replaced me.鈥�

Jessica has improved the smell of her house immeasurably with a bread maker, while Sue was given an even more elaborate gift: a potato ricer. 鈥淚t makes really smooth mashed potato, like in a restaurant,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut it takes ages.鈥� Maybe everyone could swap?

Not content with receiving a multitude of expensive presents for Christmas, certain members of the T&H team actually resorted to theft after their festive party. An innocent American tourist was deprived of his hat, because, in one giggly thief鈥檚 words: 鈥淚t looked like it was made out of a bear! How could you not steal something that enticing?鈥� A rhetorical question if ever I heard one.

The team seem to delight in rearranging letters. 鈥淒id you realise, Finsbury Park backwards is Krapy rub snif?鈥� says Triada. (No, I hadn鈥檛 realised that.) She also maintains that she comes from a place called Crewchond, which sounds French, but then, after much confusion, it turns out to be a fancy reworking of Crouch End, a rather buggy thronged area of north London. Tim explains that the T&H canteen is called Treats, 鈥渂ecause it鈥檚 T&H, plus eats鈥� oh wait, that would be Threats,鈥� he realises. Still, the complementary toffee shortbread at the firm does sound good, although Digby, who has just joined from Linklaters, won鈥檛 be drawn on whether their jelly baby encrusted cookies were better.

Now that鈥檚 contentious construction.