The Weekend Warriors

A truly amazing weekend for the surviving players in the US banking industry and the law firms who love to bill them.  “Bet the company” litigation typically proceeds at a sub-glacial pace (at least until the last minute).  But these are interesting times.   A  3 a.m. phone call sets off a tumultuous, action-packed weekend of legal wrangling by a cast of sleep-deprived all stars. Once upon a time, Citibank was buying Wachovia’s banking operations. And then  it wasn’t.  And then Wells Fargo’s proposed deal for all of Wachovia was put on hold.  And then  . And now there’s a showdown at high noon tomorrow: Citibank  must show cause in federal court in Manhattan as to why it should not be enjoined from impeding the Wells Fargo-Wachovia deal.

Nobody knows exactly where this is all headed, but the mother of all lawsuits appears to be brewing.

As the Times noted yesterday, "The litigation could be a blockbuster, pitting some of the nation’s largest surviving financial institutions against one another and giving work to the most expensive legal talent money can buy." 

Some of that talent includes Wachtell's Paul Rowe on behalf of Wells Fargo, Gregory Joseph for Citi, and

David Boies (from Boies & 2 Other Guys LLP) for Wachovia.

                                                                               -posted by brian