Like King Canute ordering back the tides, Norton Rose global head of finance and chief fixer Stephen Parish last month flew out to Dubai in a doomed attempt to persuade partners Nadim Khan and Zubair Mir not to leave for City rival Herbert Smith.
His valiant efforts were, sadly, to no avail – just as they were when a four-partner securitisation team jumped ship for Baker & McKenzie last year and when another four-partner nuclear family from leveraged finance upped sticks for Allen & Overy back in 2002.
