This spring is drear and Lowryesque for many business people. Credit shortages and weak sales numbers march across the landscape like wan mill workers. But the litigation lawyer, in contrast, is emerging into a Technicolor Disney wonderland. A bluebird alights on his finger and chirps a perky melody. Buck-toothed bunnies romp around his feet. There are any number of people he can sue because of the subprime crisis.

Some commentators deny that the lending fiasco will trigger much litigation. They doubt that business lawyers will turn on their pals, the bankers. For shame! Any litigator worthy of the name would sue his granny for the lollipop she promised in 1968 but never handed over. The incentives are there for a surge in litigation related to subprime. If just a small slice of the estimated $180bn (£91bn) in write-offs became claims, litigators would be busy for years.