Smaller firms take lions share of lucrative work acting against banks

Interesting article in the Wall Street Journal about the role of small to midsize law firms in the lucrative legal work of acting against banks in the wake of the financial crisis. US conflict of interest rules provide that law firms usually can't sue or investigate banks that they have represented, unless the clients take the unusual step of waiving the conflict. The high level work therefore falls to smaller firms who have not represented the banks in the past. The global financial crisis has already seen a shift in the distribution of legal work across larger and smaller firms, as smaller firms are seen to charge less and offer greater value for money. In this context, the growth in litigation work against large banks is an extra boost for smaller firms and a source of great frustration to larger firms.

Smaller firms take lions share of lucrative work acting against banks online.wsj.com Thu, Apr 8, 2010