Following on this earlier post that addressed the hard-nosed approach that Allied Capital Corporation has taken in attempting to avoid an Enronesque meltdown in the face of an ongoing criminal investigation, this Washington Post article notes that Allied Capital’s approach is a financial boon to one sector of the economy that is near and dear to this blogger’s heart:

Allied Capital Corp. executives yesterday said the company spent $25 million in legal expenses in the first half of the year on government investigations that have required it to produce “millions of pages” of company e-mails and documents. . .
The [company’s second quarter results] results would have been better were it not for $13.5 million in legal and other expenses associated with the investigations during the quarter, with much of the cost related to document production.

Nevertheless, the investment in legal fees appears to be paying off:

Allied Capital stock dropped 59 cents yesterday to close at $27.51. It is up more than $3 since the criminal investigation was disclosed Dec. 27.