Who's Who: Part Two

A fortnight back, we posted a fairly comprehensive summary of the legal aspects of the financial meltdown.  Well, that was then.  In light of the past weeks’ happenings—the Death of WaMu and the Sitdown at Cornwall come to mind—here’s the first half of an updated rundown:

Cleary Gottlieb: Cleary Gottlieb’s landed a string of pivotal roles over the past five weeks, starting with its representation of Morgan Stanley throughout the one-time investment bank’s (see Sept. 21, 2008) work as a government advisor during the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac takeovers. The firm subsequently advised the feds as Lehman Brothers filed Chapter 11, then turned around and helped—along with Clifford Chance and Sullivan & Cromwell—Barclays PLC buy up Lehman’s North American banking and capital markets operations for roughly $1.75 billion. Soon thereafter, Cleary aided in the $2.15 billion cash sale of Lehman’s asset management unit to a pair of private equity firms, and in late September, the firm advised Citigroup on a deal with a nearly identical price tag: its currently-in-limbo purchase of Wachovia’s banking division.

Ropes & Gray: A role player in the financial meltdown, steadfast Ropes & Gray client—and  fellow Bostonian—Bain Capital tapped the firm to help it team with another private equity outfit to buy Lehman’s asset management unit; a dozen Ropes & Gray partners spanning several practice areas chipped in to help Bain close the deal.

Clifford Chance: The global giant held a seat within the triumvirate of firms advising Barclays in its post-bankruptcy acquisition of most of Lehman’s North American holdings last month.

Sullivan & Cromwell: We'll have a round of whatever H. Rodgin Cohen’s drinking these days. Sullivan & Cromwell’s chairman has dominated the legal headlines since holding Fannie Mae’s hand as the government took custody last month, with his firm playing a role in most of the other recent major deals: S&C has advised Barclays as it bought up Lehman’s North American banking and capital markets assets, AIG throughout its federal bailout, Goldman Sachs as it morphed from an investment bank into a bank holding company, JPMorgan in its successful $1.9 billion bid for the bankrupt Washington Mutual, and Wachovia during its romantic triangle with Citigroup and Wells Fargo. According to press reports, Cohen himself led S&Cs efforts on every one of these deals—as well the firm's earlier representation of Bear Stearns during its final days.

Weil Gotshal: If Sullivan & Cromwell’s netted the fattest haul of assignments in recent weeks—and it has—then Weil & Gotshal hooked the biggest legal trophy of all when it was appointed debtor’s counsel during Lehman Brothers’ Chapter 11 case. Led by chairman Stephen Dannhauser and partner Harvey Miller, who helmed the Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. bankruptcy in 1990, Weil Gotshal says that more than 100 employees have spent time on All Things Lehman in the past month. In connection to the Chapter 11 process, Weil Gotshal advised Lehman as it auctioned off wholesale chunks of its operations to Barclays and the private equity tag-team of Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman.  On a comparatively minor note, the firm also donated sold its services to AIG as the government seized a majority stake in the insurance titan in mid-September.

Milbank Tweed: In a reprisal of roles from the Enron bankruptcy, Milbank Tweed stands opposite debtor’s counsel Weil Gotshal as it steers the Lehman creditors’ committee through the Chapter 11 process; bankruptcy specialist (and recent Amlaw “Lawyer of the Week”) Dennis Dunne leads the way for Milbank.

Simpson Thacher: After being passed over for Wachtell by longtime client JPMorgan and, as The American Lawyer reported, subsequently advising the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in the Bear Stearns debacle earlier in 2008, Simpson Thacher has emerged as a key player in Lehman’s liquidation (counseling the bank’s board of directors), Wachovia’s disputed agreement to sell Citigroup its banking division (working alongside Sullivan & Cromwell on Wachovia’s behalf), and WaMu’s sale to JPMorgan (representing the former during the buyout).

Linklaters: The Magic Circle stalwart has roughly 100 attorneys working on its representation of Lehman administrator PricewaterhouseCoopers, with the lion’s share based in the U.K. Back in the States, Linklaters is dedicating 21 brave souls to the task, with the mission led by litigation head Larry Byrne and U.S. restructuring and insolvency chief Martin Flics.  In more straightforward dealings, the firm was part of the consortium of firms that guided Nomura Holdings through its buyout of Lehman assets in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

Wachtell: The M&A maven has adapted to the economic climate and managed to walk off with some of the downturn’s choicest assignments, representing Bank of America as it gobbled up Merrill Lynch and co-advising the U.S. Department of the Treasury as the government took over four-fifths of AIG. These deals—along with its ongoing representation of Wells Fargo in the Wachovia/Citi mess—come six months after Wachtell guided JPMorgan (snagging the lead advisory role from Simpson Thacher) through its bargain-basement buyout of Bear Stearns.

Coming tomorrow: Who’s Who, Part Three.

- posted by ben fuchs