Leading investment funds are being turned away by the top 10 City firms for litigation work due to a refusal by the firms to act against their top investment banking clients, Legal Director’s sister title Legal Week has learned.

The situation has developed as a result of last year’s High Court battle between Unilever’s pension fund and the fund management arm of Merrill Lynch for alleged mismanagement and under-performance of a £1bn portfolio managed for the pension fund.