Who?s Who: Part Five (Fresh Meat)

Yesterday, we provided a glance at the recent exploits of subprime stalwarts such as Cravath and Sullivan & Cromwell. Today, it’s on to introductions—here are the firms new to the game (as well as a few that we, admittedly, missed on the first go-rounds):

Robbins, Russell, Englert, Orseck, Untereiner & Sauber: Robbins Russell, suddenly attractive to financial clients due largely to its conflict-free status, helped Bank of America sue a former Bear Stearns asset management unit and three former Bear execs in October; B of A accuses the defendants of lying about the health of a pair of Bear-managed funds. The firm’s also counseling Wachovia as it faces the $80 billion Citigroup lawsuit filed after Wachovia abandoned a deal to sell its banking division to Citi in favor of a broader offer from Wells Fargo.

O’Melveny & Myers: In October, OMM helped Bank of America hammer out an agreement to restructure as many as 400,000 mortgages in 11 states; borrowers had sued B of A over allegedly predatory lending practices by subsidiary Countrywide Financial Corp.

Proskauer Rose: Proskauer litigator (and one-time Unabomber prosecutor) Robert Cleary is representing CFO Erin Callan as the feds continue to investigate whether she and other Lehman Brothers execs misled investors prior to the company’s Chapter 11 filing. Callan, who left Lehman shortly before the firm's September collapse, also faces lawsuits filed by shareholders on Tuesday and a group of California cities, school districts and transit agencies last month; no indication yet on who Callan’s retained to defend her in these cases.

Hughes Hubbard & Reed: In November, the U.S. Treasury Department selected Hughes Hubbard (along with Squire Sanders) to help it examine and purchase troubled assets from some 2,500 financial institutions under the feds’ $700 billion bailout plan. Under the terms of the deal, which runs through April 2009, the firm will aid Uncle Sam as he (and, by extension, we) examines and purchases troubled assets from as many as 2,500 financial institutions. Hughes Hubbard will reportedly rake in a cool $5.5 million for its efforts.

Squire Sanders & Dempsey: Squire Sanders, previously quiet on the financial fallout front, joined Hughes Hubbard in taking home a $5.5 million contract of its own in November to advise the Treasury Department in its $700 billion bailout plan.

Slaughter and May: In the biggest surprise to come out of the Kingdom since Ali G Indahouse flopped, three of the most powerful law firms in the U.K. are involved in the government’s £37 billion bailout of three of the nation’s largest banks. Slaughters is one such lucky duck, counseling the Treasury on the deal, designed to result in government ownership of around 60 percent in the Royal Bank of Scotland and roughly 40 percent in HBOS and Lloyds TSB.

Hunton & Williams: The Richmond institution is currently defending Wells Fargo against a class action filed in a North Carolina by a Wachovia investor. The plaintiffs seek to invalidate Wells Fargo’s October purchase of nearly 40 percent of Wachovia, arguing that the sale disenfranchised Wachovia’s shareholders by diluting the value of their stock as a merger vote looms (it’s reportedly slated for December 23). Thomas Cottingham leads the charge for Hunton.

Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson: Partner Robert Fuller captains the Charlotte firm’s defense of Wachovia in a class action filed in North Carolina in October by a Wachovia investor. In the suit, the plaintiffs argue that the bank’s sale of a 40 percent stake to Wells Fargo ahead of a looming merger vote disenfranchised Wachovia shareholders; Fuller countered in a hearing last month that to assume a better offer can be had “is playing with fire.”

Wolf Popper: The Manhattan firm, a self-described “leader in protecting the interests of defrauded investors and consumers,” is attempting to do just that in the class action filed by Wachovia shareholders filed in October. Securities litigation specialist Chet Waldman leads the charge to invalidate Wells Fargo’s October purchase of 40 percent of Wachovia and complicate the merger vote set for later this month.

Allen & Overy: In October, the Magic Circle mainstay landed the choice representation of HBOS in the British government’s £37 billion bailout of three of the nation’s largest banks. On the home front, Allen & Overy litigator Patricia Hynes helped embattled Lehman Brothers CEO Dick Fuld prep for his congressional testimony in October and continues to represent him as the government investigates whether Lehman executives misled investors prior to the company’s September collapse. Still no word yet whether Fuld will pursue civil remuneration from the employee who may or may not have decked him in the company gym.

WilmerHale: Citigroup hired WilmerHale in October to team with Manhattan boutique Gregory P. Joseph Law Offices on Citi’s $80 billion suit against Wells Fargo and Wachovia—the latter of which ditched a deal with Citi to tango with the former. Partner Paul Engelmayer, co-head of the firm’s New York office, leads the WilmerHale team on the matter.

Quinn Emanuel: Quinn Emanuel holds a key position as conflicts counsel in Lehman Brothers’ gargantuan Chapter 11 case; New York partner Susheel Kirpalani was chosen to lead the effort.

Grant & Eisenhofer: The Delaware firm is one of a quartet of lit boutiques representing shareholders who filed a class-action suit against Lehman Brothers on Tuesday, alleging that the company’s execs “failed to disclose the true nature and extent of Lehman’s exposure to losses resulting from trading in risky mortgage-backed securities and proper values of its assets,” among other gripes. The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages in a New York federal court.

Kirby McInerney: The 20-attorney New York firm is another of the four small firms representing Lehman shareholders suing the now-defunct financial titan for hiding its exposure to risky assets (read: mortgage-backed securities) from investors.

Gardy & Notis: This tiny (three lawyers) Jersey outfit is one of the lit boutiques working the class-action suit filed this week against Lehman Brothers on behalf of shareholders.

Law Offices of Bernard M. Gross: Last but not least, this eight-lawyer Philly operation rounds out the quartet of firms representing Lehman shareholders in the suit filed Tuesday against the dismantled behemoth.

Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy: Calling the suit “the first of its kind,” powerful Bay Area trial lawyer Joe Cotchett, a prominent Democratic Party donor, lifted a line from the presidential debates as his client, San Mateo County, sued Lehman Brothers last month for allegedly deceiving investors: "This is Main Street taking on Wall Street," he told the San Francisco Chronicle. "This is a brushfire that's going to burn east, and the Hudson River is not going to stop it.” The county’s investment pool, which funds schools, transit districts, cities and other public agencies in the region, lost more than $150 million as Lehman collapsed. In addition to Lehman and its executive suite, the county names Lehman auditor Ernst & Young in the complaint for its alleged complicity in the cover-up. Cotchett’s tone didn’t betray plans to settle when he asserted that “we are going after these guys' houses, their bonuses, their salaries and everything these guys have.”

As always, readers, inform us of any egregious omissions by commenting below. Till the next bailout, bankruptcy or shareholder suit…

-posted by ben fuchs