Considering the 18-month depression in the US markets, the news that one of Wall Street’s corporate leaders in 2001 saw its profits decline by nearly 30% might seem, in isolation, a respectable result.

Unfortunately for Shearman & Sterling, whose 2001 partner profits fell to an average of $950,000 (£612,903) from more than $1.22m (£787,096) the previous year, one thing that even the most established New York firms do not operate in is a vacuum.