These days insolvency lawyers would like to see themselves
portrayed as company doctors prescribing medicine that might taste
bad but will cure the patient rather than as the right-hand hatchet
men of the corporate grim reaper. The extent to which the
managements of companies that come into their hands accept this
self-image is unclear. What is certain is that in the present
dismal economic climate insolvency lawyers look likely to
experience a mini-boom in demand for their services. "It's the
endless debate of the cocktail party - how busy are we going to
get?" says Nigel Barnett, a partner in insolvency with London law
firm Denton Wilde Sapte, "I think that generally the perception is
that we will get busier."
There may, however, be a few obstacles in the way of firms that
are tempted to try to capitalize on this slump-induced boom by, for
example, "repurposing" their underemployed M&A lawyers as
restructuring...
