The 1990s were, without doubt, the most lucrative time to be a member of the legal profession. As the economy continued growing year upon year, with no recession in sight, the profits of commercial law firms, and the salaries of their employees, boomed.

They prospered on the back of a surge of corporate work – takeovers, mergers, flotations and restructurings – and the ever-growing legal needs of not just the UK’s plcs, but those of Europe, the US and Asia.