Lawyers instrumental in unraveling Atlas crisis.

Let's say something nice about attorneys.

A couple of years ago, I was following the story of Atlas Telecom, a once-promising telecom firm that was failing and had entered bankruptcy court seeking Chapter 11 protection.

As Atlas' death throes intensified, some of those involved with the story grumbled that the only winners would be the lawyers who collect fat fees for picking over the carcass.

That seems to be the standard line these days: lawyers are something akin to carrion birds gorging themselves on dead meat. That may be true sometimes, but it wasn't in this case.

John Durkheimer, then a partner at Lane Powell Spears Lubersky, …