Slaughters in fracas with Lib Dem peer
LORD Oakeshott, the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, has become embroiled in a row with “magic circle” legal firm Slaughter and May after he accused it of handing the government a “simply mind-blowing” £22m bill.
The bill relates to “financial stability” work carried out for the Treasury in the the financial year 2008 to 2009.
Slaughters partner Paul Olney yesterday said Oakeshott had issued “wholly inaccurate and completely wrong” figures, after the politician suggested the fees would be equivalent to 22,000 billable hours of partners’ time at £1,000 per-hour.
Olney pointed out that the fee included advice on the Northern Rock collapse and Bradford & Bingley rescue as well as a range of Icelandic bank issues.
He added that the firm also worked on the cash injections into RBS, Lloyds and HBOS, as well as on the government’s asset protection scheme, among other financial stability matters.
“Each of these transactions were substantial and complex in their own right. They required a huge amount of work in a number of specialist areas,” he said.
Oakeshott said the Treasury should have “driven a harder bargain, not left Slaughters like a fleet of legal taxis in Whitehall with their meters running for months on end”.
The Lib Dem spokesman, who worked as an economist before becoming a politician, also suggested the £22m bill was equivalent to £175,000 for each of the groups’ partners.
FAST FACTS OAKESHOTT v SLAUGHTERS
&9679; Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay, who trained as an economist at Oxford, is 62-years old
&9679; London-based Slaughter and May, one of the elite “magic circle” legal giants, was founded 120 years ago and employs around 762 lawyers