What Are the Prospects for Lehman’s London Lawyers?

[WSJ_law_blog]

This morning we speculated on the fate of lawyers who made a living, at least in part, by servicing Lehman Brothers. But how about Lehman’s in-house lawyers? Their prospects are in limbo too.

Legal Week reports that around 50 of Lehman’s in-house lawyers in the UK are searching for work in the wake of the bank’s bankruptcy filing, and that in-house recruiters are now working in and around the bank’s Canary Wharf offices amid widespread expectations that Lehman’s 5,000 UK staff “will be made redundant.” (In London, Linklaters, Freshfields and Clifford Chance are reportedly among the firms handling the UK insolvency procedure.)

Last year, notes Legal Week, Lehman had a total of 145 in-house lawyers, headed up by general counsel Thomas Russo. But if the fate of Bear Stearns’ in-house lawyers in London is any indication, Lehman’s London-based legal eagles need not fret — providing they don’t mind going the law firm route. Legal Week says that “a stream of firms,” including Simmons & Simmons, K&L Gates, Brown Rudnick and Bingham McCutchen have recruited senior lawyers from Bear since it was sold to JPMorgan last spring.

Ricky Mui, legal director and banking specialist with recruitment firm Robert Walters, told Legal Week: “Competition for this pool of talent will undoubtedly be high across the financial services and commercial sectors.” But, he added: “In direct response to the volatility of the financial sector, many banking lawyers are actively looking at career options outside the financial services sector, with many heading back to private practice or considering careers overseas in areas such the Middle East.”