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What exactly do the attorneys that work in legal and compliance dept. of the bulge bracket banks do?

Legal and compliance issues for the banks.

Some bank lawyers spend their days gnashing their teeth at Dodd-Frank.
Others spend their days whining at the Fed, or the SEC, or the FDIC, or the OCC, or Treasury.
Others try to negotiate punitive trading agreements with buy-side investors, like me.
Others figure out how to move massive amounts of capital around quickly enough to sustain the illusions of our modern credit system.
Others manage the massive amounts of securities fraud litigation spawned by the crisis.
Others are trying to recover as much from the Lehman debacle as possible.
Others try to figure out how to dodge liability for CDOs their firms created.
Others manage workflow for public offerings.
Others review leases, licensing agreements, contracts for the recycling company, etc.