When Lehman Brothers started to fall apart, Bear Stearns collapsed and Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan fought for survival, there was only one lawyer to whom they all turned: the so-called ‘trauma surgeon of Wall Street’.

Acting for almost every troubled institution during the financial crisis may have helped secure the legacy of corporate lawyer Rodgin Cohen, the senior chairman of Sullivan & Cromwell, but 10 years on he is wary of basking in the glory of his part in the drama. If anything, he wishes he had given more thought to the implications of his legacy.