To think it was only a few years ago that Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer was doing all it could to promote its low-profile finance offering in the City.

Million-pound McKinsey reviews, a ‘top 10 banks’ hit-list and a PR push on any finance-related deal were part of a wider effort to convince the world the firm was really, honestly, serious about beefing up in finance, rather than relying on a handful of tasty niches practices (see comment).