Financial Crisis of 2008: Where Were The Lawyers?

An upcoming paper by Georgetown Law professor Donald Langevoort, "Getting (Too) Comfortable: In-House Lawyers, Enterprise Risk and the Financial Crisis," suggests that the personality traits of successful in-house counsel might supply an answer, i.e., that people whose psychological make-up inclines them toward risk and flexibility without the burdens of doubt are the "likely winners" in the promotion tournament.  If so, the paper notes (and SBM Blog concurs) "that would not be particularly good news for either legal or business ethics."