With the year getting off to a shaky start and some comentators even wondering about the future of firms in their current form, there’s still no doubt that certain areas of practice will be busy over the coming months.

The unfortunate news that Waterford Wedgwood entered into administration yesterday carries with it work for Linklaters and Slaughters. Linklaters has been named as adviser to the administrator, Deloitte who instructed the firm on the administration. Slaughter and May is advising regular client Waterford Wedgwood. So the two Magic Circle firms take the lead in the working-through-the-downturn-stakes, as 2009 kicks off in anger.

Without being prospectors of gloom we can’t help imagining that more of this sort of work is bound to surface as the year unfolds and in an attempt to cheer everyone else up we have served up this bit of craic:

A businessman was trying to choose a lawyer, but was being very careful about it. He scheduled appointments to interview three lawyers.

At the first lawyer’s office, after an initial exchange of pleasantries, the businessman said, “Okay, let’s get down to business. I have an important question for you, and I want you to think carefully before answering. How much is two plus two?”…

The lawyer raised his eyebrows. “two plus two is four.” The businessman thanked him for his time, and proceeded to his next appointment.

The second lawyer, who was also a CPA, seemed a bit more particular than the first lawyer. After an initial discussion, the businessman again announced that he had a very important question, and asked, “How much is two plus two?”

The second lawyer went over to a computer, and entered figures into a spreadsheet. “According to my calculations, two plus two is approximately four.” The businessman thanked him for his time, and proceeded to his next appointment.

The third lawyer sat behind a big mahogany desk, and smoked a cigar. He seemed rather self-important as compared to the other two, but at the same time appeared to be much more successful. The businessman again announced, “I would like you to answer a very important question for me, before I decide whether I should use your services. How much is two plus two?”

The lawyer pulled the shades, locked the door to his office, and asked in a hushed voice, “How much do you want it to be?”

You may have heard it before but hey, we’re optimists.