Bankruptcy court examiner Anton Valukas claimed that Lehman looked to Linklaters to get sign off on the Repo 105 transactions originating from its EU entity Lehman Brothers International Europe (LBIE). Whilst there was no suggestion that Linklaters was in any way wrong in its advice, the rules relating to these transactions being different under English law; it might not stop a wave of litigation.

Linklaters said that they had reviewed the opinions and were “not aware of any facts or circumstances which would justify any criticism.”

However, the Lehman creditors have built a reputation for their aggression in the U.S. and Linklaters’ reassurance is unlikely to have them retreating quietly.

The Lawyer: the general counsel at a leading City firm agreed with the Kroll source that Linklaters is likely to be sued.

“They’ll get sued – quite wrongly – but they will get sued,” the partner insisted.

If that happens it could have alarming consequences for Linklaters, according to a leading ­professional negligence silk. “The trouble is, the sums involved are huge because this [was a factor] in ­precipitating the collapse of Lehman,” he said. “It would be over their professional indemnity limit, so partners would want to settle.”

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The fallout doesn’t stop there. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is currently deciding whether to further investigate Linlaters, which could be inconvenient. And, Linklaters has been adviser to PricewaterhouseCoopers, Lehman’s administrator in the UK since PwC was appointed in 2008, which could be expensive – up to October 2009 law firms including Linklaters generated £68 million ($112 million) in fees acting for PwC.

PwC are currently reviewing Anton Valukas’ report to see if any action is required on their part.