With their wealth of experience, banks and regulators are turning to Sullivan & Cromwell and their rival law firm, Davis Polk & Wardwell, for legal assistance in the latest meltdown. These firms have emerged as the top legal advisers in response to the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank and the bailout of First Republic Bank.
As the latest financial crisis looms, banks and regulators turn to familiar faces for legal assistance in shoring up the global financial system. Among the top legal advisers are Sullivan & Cromwell and Davis Polk & Wardwell, with many of their lead lawyers being crisis veterans trusted with the task once again.
Marshall Huebner, a lead lawyer at Davis Polk, was a key architect of the 2008 bailouts. Randall Guynn, head of the firm’s financial institutions group, led Citigroup’s massive government bailout among 11 rescue deals. Rodge Cohen, a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell, was called the “trauma surgeon of Wall Street” by the New York Times in 2009. Cohen worked on 17 deals from the 2008 banking meltdown, including JPMorgan Chase’s purchase of Bear Stearns and the US government bailout of insurance giant AIG.
According to Davis Polk partner Margaret Tahyar, who led Signature Bank in its March sale of assets to New York Community Bancorp’s Flagstar Bank, banks and regulators prefer working with lawyers with experience and expertise in crisis management. They want to work with people they already know and trust who have been battle-tested in previous crises.
