Kerim Derhalli, the investment banker who is suing US-based Lehman Brothers for unfair dismissal, "nursed an unjustified grievance' after his remuneration for the year of the 1998 Russian financial crisis fell far short of expectations, a UK High Court judge has heard.

"It is not unknown for high-flyers to have ambitious bonus expectations for themselves and to ignore the wider picture,' said Nicholas Underhill QC, outlining the bank's defence to a £10m (€14.8m) claim by Derhalli.