In the same year, British Energy was an even greater bringer of Joy & Happiness to the legal crowd: with debts of gbp 1.2b (plus liabilities for taking care of spent nuclear fuel and decommissioning...

In the same year, British Energy was an even greater bringer of Joy & Happiness to the legal crowd: with debts of gbp 1.2b (plus liabilities for taking care of spent nuclear fuel and decommissioning power stations) it paid gbp 121m for legal advice related to its restructuring. (The Economist, December 15 2007, p 67). Even in a relatively simple case like Northern Rock's, the English bank that skirted failure in the 2007/08 subprime mess, Deringer (a London law firm) made usd 20m from advice to the bank, Slaughter & May made usd 6m from advice to the Treasury, and Clifford Chance Linklaters made undisclosed amounts from working for third parties (The Economist, March 15 2008, p 78).