The High Court ruled this week that Linklaters had acted negligently in advising its client Levicom. Although it was a pyrrhic victory for the claimant, which was awarded just £5 in damages.

Levicom, a telecoms company, instructed Linklaters to represent it in a dispute with a rival back in 2000. It claimed that by following Linklaters' advice it found itself embroiled in an expensive arbitration, when it had really wanted a quick settlement. The company claimed £37million in damages from Linklaters, and sought to recover £1.7million of fees it had paid the firm.

A slapped wrist

Mr Justice Andrew Smith ruled that Linklaters had indeed been negligent in certain respects, but that this negligence had not caused Levicom any loss. So the firm got away with nominal damages of a fiver.

Levicom pointed out that "there has been a finding of professional negligence against Linklaters", and that it was "presently considering an appeal".

A spokeswoman for Linklaters said that the firm had no comment.