Lovells rolls up for Rock ruck

The ongoing Northern Rock ;saga ;has provided rich pickings for legal advisers, what witha liquidity crisis followed by a proposed sale, then a nationalisation and now a judicial review.

A plethora of firms, from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer to Slaughter and May to White & Case, has won roles related to the bank's shenanigans - some of them more than one - and now Lovells has got in on the action.

A group of Northern Rock's former shareholders launched a judicial review aimed at improving the compensation package offered by the Government, and Lovells has been handed a role from Citigroup, a subsidiary of which held held hedge fund SRM's shares.

Legal & General has also entered the fray as an interested party, although so far it hasn't instructed external counsel. It's just as well it has a roster of firms to choose from, with longstanding adviser Slaughters signed up by the Government months ago.