Weil GM bill set to surpass Lehman charges with 'more complex matter'
Weil Gotshal & Manges looks set to earn more from the landmark bankruptcy of General Motors than it did from its mandate advising on the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
June 10, 2009 at 11:03 PM
5 minute read
Wall Street firm leads on GM bankruptcy; Weil Gotshal, CC and Bakers take on Euro work
Weil Gotshal & Manges looks set to earn more from the landmark bankruptcy of General Motors than it did from its mandate advising on the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
The US law firm has around 200 lawyers working on the instruction worldwide, led by high-profile New York bankruptcy partners Harvey Miller and Stephen Karotkin. It is also advising on the restructuring of the European arm of GM, led by London office head Mike Francies.
The stricken car giant filed for bankruptcy protection for all of its US assets last Monday (1 June), but it intends to restructure itself under section 367, with the 'bad' assets going into liquidation, while the rest goes into a new company.
An unprecedented number of law firms have been brought in to advise on GM's disintegration, which is the biggest industrial failure in the US. Weil Gotshal has the largest role for the company alongside Chicago's Jenner & Block, which is GM's main corporate and M&A adviser, under partners Joseph Gromacki and Michael Wolf.
Weil Gotshal and Jenner & Block are both working alongside GM's Detroit-based general counsel Robert Osborne, a former partner of Joe Gromacki at Jenner & Block, as well as his European counterpart, Riccardo Ventura in Zurich.
Dewey & LeBoeuf bankruptcy partner Martin Bienenstock, who switched from Weil Gotshal in November 2007, played an instrumental role in setting up the restructuring plan and, while he is not involved currently, it is understood he will reprise a role acting on the establishment of the new company later this summer.
A report by Legal Week's sister title The American Lawyer in April said that Weil Gotshal had billed Lehman $55m (£34.3m) for 100,296 hours of work between 15 September, 2008 and 31 January, 2009. At that point, Miller, the firm's lead partner, had billed the most hours – 794.8 – at a rate of $950 (£594.70) an hour, with some 128 partners and counsel and 365 associates involved. Some press reports have estimated the firm could make more than $200m (£125m) in fees from Lehman, though Miller declined to comment.
However, the firm is expected to make more from GM than Lehman.
Miller told Legal Week: "GM is a very large matter which is consuming a lot of people and a lot of time. We have a couple of hundred lawyers working on the issue and for the past month people have been working 24-7, so you can do the math. I spent months working on the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy but this is a much more complex matter."
On the European side it is thought that the restructuring work is split roughly equally between Weil Gotshal, Clifford Chance and Baker & McKenzie, but the instruction is significantly smaller than Weil's US brief.
Commenting on the deal, Kirkland & Ellis US bankruptcy partner James Sprayregen said: "As big as it is, it is actually quite a straightforward use of bankruptcy law. So while it is bigger than what has been done before, it actually is quite a common process. But there is a massive amount of legal work that has been done in preparation and that will be needed to finish the deal off. It has got to be costing tens of millions of dollars."
Miller added: "The main objective is to turn GM into a profitable company and
save jobs."
MAIN US ADVISERS on GM Bankruptcy
GM:
|- Weil Gotshal & Manges – main US bankruptcy and restructuring adviser
- Jenner & Block – main US corporate and M&A adviser
- Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn – advising GM in relation to its suppliers.
- Dewey & LeBoeuf – involved in the early stages of the restructuring. Will reappear to advise on the formation of the new GM company.
US Treasury Department:
|- Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft
- Creditors committee:
- Kramer Levin
MAIN EUROPEAN ADVISERS
GM:
|- Weil Gotshal & Manges
- Clifford Chance
- Baker & McKenzie
SPIN-OFF DEALS
The sale of Opel to Magna:
GM: Baker & McKenzie
Opel: Wellensiek for management; Apitzsch advises the workers' council; Hengeler Mueller advising Opel on state aid
Magna: Gleiss Lutz
German Government: Shearman & Sterling
Underwriters for state aid: Linklaters
The sale of Hummer to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery:
GM: Jenner & Block and Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn
Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery: Shearman & Sterling
The restructuring of SAAB:
Lofalk Advokatbyra
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllSingapore's Drew & Napier Secures $3.5B Award in Civil Suit
Trending Stories
- 1Gibson Dunn Sued By Crypto Client After Lateral Hire Causes Conflict of Interest
- 2Trump's Solicitor General Expected to 'Flip' Prelogar's Positions at Supreme Court
- 3Pharmacy Lawyers See Promise in NY Regulator's Curbs on PBM Industry
- 4Outgoing USPTO Director Kathi Vidal: ‘We All Want the Country to Be in a Better Place’
- 5Supreme Court Will Review Constitutionality Of FCC's Universal Service Fund
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250