More than a dozen global law firms, including Allen & Overy (A&O) and Sullivan & Cromwell have landed major advisory roles acting for banks accused of rigging rates in the foreign exchange market, court documents reveal.

The mandates, detailed in a consolidated class action filed by pension funds in the US, give an indication of the amount of work the scandal is already providing for the firms.

A&O, which is acting for BNP Paribas, was among the firms added to the docket in recent weeks, alongside Locke Lord, which has been instructed by HSBC.

Of the UK-headquartered banks, the Royal Bank of Scotland has turned to Davis Polk & Wardwell, while Barclays is being represented by Sullivan & Cromwell.

Other firms advising include Covington & Burling for Citigroup, Cahill Gordon & Reindel for Credit Suisse, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom for JP Morgan and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher for UBS.

A Kirkland & Ellis team which includes former Securities and Exchange Commission regulatory head Robert Khuzami (pictured) has also been drafted in by Deutsche Bank.

Several of the firms listed above are also advising the banks on separate Libor-related class actions in the US.

On the plaintiffs' side, the forex case is being brought by class action specialists Scott + Scott alongside a New York-based team at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan.

The sprawling lawsuit, which is being hear in the Southern District of New York by Judge Lorna Schofield, also lists the United States Department of Justice as an interested party.

In the City, a number of litigation outfits including Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Stephenson Harwood have also taken roles for individuals and financial institutions in relation to the allegations, which Bank of England governor Mark Carney earlier this month said are "as serious as Libor, if not more so".

Authorities in both the UK and US are investigating suggestions some traders colluded to artificially fix the £3 trillion-a-day foreign exchange market over several years.

All firms and banks contacted for this article declined to comment, though one bank spokesperson dismissed the prospect of a successful claim being brought in either the UK and US courts.

As reported by Legal Week the Bank of England has appointed Travers Smith and One Essex Court's Lord Grabiner QC to review its conduct in the foreign exchange market, in response to allegations that the central bank knew of the alleged rigging.

Foreign Exchange Benchmark Rates Antitrust Litigation – the legal line up:

Plaintiffs (The Funds)
Haverhill Retirement System – Scott + Scott; Hausfeld; Mogin Law Firm; Korein Tillery; Cohen Milstein & Toll

Value Recovery Fund and Augustus International Master Fund – Entwistle & Cappucci

The City of Philadelphia, Board of Pensions and Retirement – Quinn Emanuel, Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel; Boni & Zack

United Food and Commercial Workers Union and Participating Food Industry Employers Tri-state Pension Fund – Lowey Dannenberg Cohen & Hart

Fresno County Employees Retirement Association – Berman DeValerio

Defendants (The Banks)
Barclays – Sullivan and Cromwell (partners David Braff, Jeffrey Scott, Qian Allison Gao and Yvonne Susan Quinn)

Citigroup - Covington & Burling (Alan Wiseman and Andrew Ruffino)

Credit Suisse – Cahill Gordon & Reindel (David Januszewski, Elai Katz, Herbert Washer and Jason Hall)

Deutsche Bank – Kirkland & Ellis (Joseph Serino, Eric Leon, George Montgomery and Robert Khuzami)

JP Morgan Chase – Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom (Peter Greene, Boris Bershteyn and Patrick Fitzgerald, Peter Julian)

Royal Bank of Scotland – Davis Polk & Wardwell (Arthur Burke, Greg Andres and Lewis Shioleno)

UBS - Gibson Dunn & Crutcher (Peter Sullivan, Joel Sanders, Joshua Soven, Melanie Katsur and Rachel Lavery)

BNP Paribas NA – Allen & Overy (David Esseks and Molly Kelley)

HSBC - Locke Lord (Edwin Deyoung, Gregory Casamento and Roger Cowie)