When you’re negotiating a multibillion-dollar settlement, it helps if you’vealready made similar deals with the lawyers on the other side of the table.
The veteran dealmakers who put together W.R. Grace & Co.’s settlement ofasbestos claims, which was announced Tuesday, “know each other well and knowthe process well,” says David Bernick, the Kirkland & Ellis partner who ledthe talks for Grace. The lawyers representing asbestos plaintiffs in thenegotiations were Perry Weitz of Weitz & Luxenberg, Joseph Rice of MotleyRice, Steve Baron of Baron and Budd, and John Cooney of Cooney & Conway.”These are the same folks I’ve done business with for many years,” addsBernick. “That makes it much, much easier.”
