Remember when Citibank got the hump with Freshfields after the firm acted against it in a piece of litigation?

That was back in 1999, with the row culminating in the magic circle’s firm’s ejection from Citibank’s panel (see story). The spat was the first inkling UK law firms had that the particular brand of loyalty major US companies expect of their clients – you don’t stock Pepsi in your office if you act for Coca Cola – was spreading to this country.