Five Legal Halloween Haunts

For some folks—based on the number of lawyer jokes we've heard—just seeing an attorney coming may be spooky. That aside, we rounded up five ways Washingtonians celebrated Halloween this year.

1) Jones Day Partner Kerri Ruttenberg's Elaborate Office

Kerri, a litigator with a national trial practice focused on criminal defense and civil enforcement actions, goes all out for Halloween. Her office is decorated for all of October, and lawyers from around the Jones Day HQ at 51 Louisiana come to look. (We're considering nominating it as a DC landmark.)

We stopped by Kerri's office the night before she had an appellate argument and found her working surrounded by ghouls, skeletons, vampires, and holographic pictures that morph into skulls. (In fact, she jokes that the office gets a bit lonely when she takes down the decorations each year.) The spooky surroundings took 25 hours to put together, Kerri tells us, including this fireplace she built up herself. It's a testament to her Halloween spirit—and busy schedule—that she came in to do it on a Saturday.

Two glass walls in Kerri's new office meant she had to get even more creative this year. (They're disguised here behind the "stone" walls.) A Grim Reaper lounges in the corner, near skulls, wall-climbing mummies, and a table with a dry-ice cauldron and bottles of "potions." The other side of the room held bowls filled with candies (including sugar-free treats for the health-conscious), which brought by trick-or-treaters all month.

2) McDermott's Creepy Costume Contest

McDermott holds an annual "Boo-Tacular" Halloween event in its 500 North Capitol office with snacks, beverages and a costume contest. First place this year went to US & International Tax secretarial coordinator Evelyn Bond, dressed up as a "masquerade gone wrong." Second place went to McDermott Discovery’s Technology project manager Wes McDougald, dressed as Twisty the Clown from American Horror Story, and in third place was McDermott Discovery administrative assistant Elizabeth Garnette, going as the Joker’s girlfriend, Harley Quinn.

3) Ilisa Halpern Paul and Scott Paul's Adorable Jack-O'-Lanterns

Ilisa Halpern Paul, the head of Drinker Biddle's boutique lobbying practice, The District Policy Group, celebrated Halloween with jack-o'-lanterns. She and her husband, Alliance for American Manufacturing president Scott Paul, carved these pumpkins into Minions and the logo of UCLA (where Ilisa went to undergrad). (If you want to see Ilisa herself, here she is in Bisnow during the launch party for the District Policy Group.)

4) Lerch Early's Original Outfits

Bethesda law firm Lerch, Early & Brewer also kicked off Halloween with its annual costume contest. Here's land use attorney Liz Rogers as 50 Shades of Grey, e-discovery attorney Diane Kilcoyne as Big Data, and business and real estate transactions attorney Rosemarie Salguero as the devil (in a red dress).

5) Community Realty Co EVP Josh Aronson's Adorable Accompaniment 

Community Realty Co EVP Josh Aronson got dressed up as the Beast to his daughter's Beauty. Three-year-old Lila looks adorable as Belle.

Josh also got creative with his jack-o'-lanterns, debuting one with Hello Kitty, and this Lionel Richie pumpkin.