Lloyd Blankfein has appointed Rein Weingarten, the lawyer who defended Bernie Ebbers, the former chief executive of WorldCom, as his as external counsel. In doing so he has hired a man who considers himself a bulwark against mob justice for those at the top of corporate America.

Weingarten, a partner at Washington law firm Steptoe & Johnson, is one of the most renowned white collar criminal defence lawyers in the US.