Wall Street Crisis Creates Too Much Work for Weary Bank Lawyers
Amidst what one consultant describes as a horrible year for major corporate law firms, one practice area is red-hot: advising struggling financial institutions, for those considered expert in the practice area.
One unnamed lawyer billed 450 hours last month—that’s 15 per day, every day, according to Bloomberg. Others, according to news reports, may be working even harder.
However, the deluge of legal work flowing from the current Wall Street crisis is going to dry up, sooner or later. And the companies that lawyers are helping to go out of business aren’t likely to result in a continuing stream of referrals, points out Jonathan Lindsey. He is the managing partner of legal recruiter Major, Lindsey & Africa’s office in New York.
“It’s good news and it’s bad news,” he tells Bloomberg. “The good news is there’s a lot of deal work. The bad news is because the deals are so compressed in time the fees tend to be lower. You can’t have 100 lawyers working on a deal for a year.”
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Wall Street’s Go-To Lawyer Describes his ‘Five Weeks in Hell’”
