There was no shortage of outrage at New Change after Legal Week reported that Allen & Overy had considered putting its much-vaunted US law group on local law pay rates, rather than offering pay benchmarked to Wall Street regardless of location.

Managing partner John Rink has insisted there is no truth to the suggestions – although such a policy would save the City giant millions of pounds annually from a group that is widely acknowledged to bring in a lot less than its running costs.