Houston giant Vinson & Elkins is bracing itself for a flood of Enron-related claims after a federal court this week gave creditors permission to add the firm to a multi-million dollar negligence claim.

The move follows the completion of a report into the causes of the controversial US company's bankruptcy, led by court-appointed examiner Neal Batson. The report criticised the top 50 US law firm for signing off on some of Enron's transactions.

Andrews & Kurth, another Texan firm criticised by Batson, has also been added to the class action, after the court ruling on Monday (1 December).

However, Chicago's Kirkland & Ellis, which had advised on the creation of some of Enron's controversial partnerships, escaped censure from Batson.

Vinsons is now moving to bolster its defences in the wake of the Batson report, which has left the firm vulnerable to further claims.

Vinsons managing partner Harry Reasoner told Legal Week it had secured four legal opinions from leading US academics – all of which backed the firm's conduct.

The experts include law professors Charles Wolfram of Cornell School, John Coffee of Columbia Law School and Geoffrey Hazard of the University of Pennsylvania.

A fourth expert, David Glazer, had written a book on the use of legal opinion letters under US law.

"The public and clients will see this report as a plaintiffs' brief for the bankrupt estate of Enron," Reasoner added.

Vinsons has already successfully fended off one claim from former Enron shareholders – believed to be the largest professional negligence action ever launched against a law firm. The Texas firm was removed from that claim
in October.