The fall-out from the end of the dot-com bubble continues to pursue the profession in the US.

According to Pennsylvania magazine The Legal Intelligencer, in 1999 well-known Philadelphia-based international practice Dechert launched a retention bonus programme, in which it generously set aside $50,000 of its investment in a high-flying Internet client with the aim of rewarding lawyers below partner level who were still at the firm on 15 September 2003.

It must have seemed a fair old perk at the time, but the company's value took a nosedive and left each lawyer who made it through the four years eligible for a whopping $15.50 each.

Still, it should be just enough to invest in one of the many books that dissect where the dot-com craze all went wrong.