What lessons will the profession take from the turmoil at Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft? I am thinking less of practice management as Cadwalader’s highly-specialised focus made substantial cuts inevitable. But aside from the cold logic of the firm’s decision, the question is how well a practice, described by one former partner (actually quite admiringly) as a “tough-guy firm that does not take any bullshit”, is placed to cope with such challenging market conditions.

So on one level Cadwalader’s plan to reshape its practice by downsizing structured finance and expanding litigation, private equity and bankruptcy is perfectly sound on paper, but in practice the firm’s culture is surely going to make it hard to pull off. Being such a self-consciously macho practice, of course, served the firm well during the heady years of the debt boom, but it has proved inadequate to support sensible expansion. And, more importantly, it is very hard to imagine who Cadwalader will persuade to join now there are firms that are more profitable, less risky and more touchy-feely. What reserves of goodwill or collegiality will the firm have to call on now, in its moment of vulnerability?