Today’s official (but much leaked) announcement of the government’s plans for Lloyds and RBS comes as both banks are carrying out reviews of their legal panels. Law firms big and small, in the City or in the regions, must be licking their lips at the thought of being party to all this restructuring work.Lloyds will sell 600 of its branches over the next four years, mortgage broker Cheltenham & Gloucester, online division Intelligent Finance, and its TSB brand. RBS will sell 318 of its branches over the next four years, RBS Insurance, its NatWest brand in Scotland, its card payment arm Global Merchant Services, and its stake in commodities trader RBS Sempra Commodities.

The severance and subsequent hoovering up of these pieces of bank will generate millions of pounds of legal work across the country, be it through the multi-million pound sale of an entire business unit or the renegotiation of staff employment contracts at a bank branch. Internal reorganisation work at each bank will also generate millions, although that will be left to the City elite.

But some of the bigger City firms might be reticent to jump straight onto either bank’s panel. The pieces cut from each bank will need to be bought, and many buyers will demand legal advice untainted by any conflict of interest. True, some general counsel may be more lenient on conflicts, and firms might be allowed to manage conflicts internally, but there is always a limit to their lenience. I would imagine that firms’ relationship partners are checking exactly where they stand at the moment.