MICHAEL BROOKS, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, worked for Lehman Brothers for two years in the equities division. He is 30 years old and single.

LAST WEEKEND

When we left work the Friday before last, I was 100% sure that we would be bought by Bank of America (BOA) or Barclays over the weekend. I went to the pub with a few colleagues and everyone was joking that when we came in on Monday we would have to say BarCap when we answered the phone.

The last few months had been hell. Clients were screaming at us every day — they wanted to know what was happening with Lehman, the share price, the rumours — but we had no answers.

News that Barclays pulled out on Sunday was good as this meant ours jobs were safe. BOA was going to buy us and I went to bed happy. Many of my colleagues did not sleep on Sunday night as they followed the story in real time.

MONDAY

The alarm on my Blackberry went off at 5.30. I looked at my e-mails and there it was: the news that we had filed for Chapter 11. My first reaction was it can’t be true. I arrived at work at 6:40 am. A lot of people were already in — more than usual for that time — but nobody was really speaking as they were all glued to their Bloomberg screens.

Around midday clients started to ring. They were fairly calm. They had read the news and wanted to know what was going on, but we had no answers.

All day Monday we waited for an official letter from management but there was nothing. We didn’t know if we were going to get paid on Friday or whether we should report for work tomorrow.

Many people assumed this was the end and cleared their desks before heading to the pub. I packed up a few personal things — for all we knew the administrators could shut the building tonight — and then joined my colleagues in All Bar One at 6.30 pm. About an hour later we received an impersonal e-mail from a Lehman address that told us to report to work the following day.

TUESDAY

I got into the office at about 8.30 am — about an hour later than normal — wearing a suit — but only because I had two job interviews with other banks.

I went to buy a coffee but Benugos, the coffee shop in the building, had closed. This was the first tangible sign that this thing was winding down. Still, there was no communication — nothing from Dick Fuld or anybody in charge — but it was an interesting day by itself because all of a sudden we were in 1929 with AIG failing and Morgan Stanley looking like it was on the brink.

The Barclays deal with the American part of Lehman was done this afternoon. Obviously, we just read about it on Bloomberg. I was told some of the London traders first heard about the deal through the internal radio system that allows them to listen to the New York trading floor. So, they heard (Barclays boss) Bob Diamond addressing the American office before they read about it.

Initially, the reaction was “good for them” but to be honest our focus was on whether we would get paid. People were just scrambling around trying to find out whether they had to cough up a few thousand pounds for expenses. The PAs were trying to find some sort of petty cash so they could reimburse us directly but it was no go.

WEDNESDAY

I got in about 8.30 wearing jeans — no interviews. Things started to come together a bit today. The administrators confirmed the rumour that there was no money in London. It was all in New York. We were left to die in the desert without water. However, PWC would pay our salaries and expenses with a loan, which was a huge relief.

However, this was short-lived as stories spread that our American counterparts would get severance pay and their bonuses. It seemed they were being paid with all the cash they sucked out of the subsidiaries. That made us furious.

I went for a run at 3.30pm. It helped me to put things in perspective.

About 5pm an e-mail arrived from New York. It was a forward of Fuld’s first memo to staff, which he had only sent to the American workers. This confirmed that London was being shafted.

While our anger ratcheted up over how we were being treated there was a lot of bonding in London. Guys that hated each other before were speaking to each other, like, “Can you believe what's happening? Let’s go for a beer”.

THURSDAY

I just had lunch at my desk. Today was very quiet for interviews but everyone is going out to see the other banks. I heard that there were headhunters in the building but I didn’t speak to them.

FRIDAY

I had several interviews today. It’s hard to tell whether they will lead to anything. I left early to escape London for the weekend.

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