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Weil Gotshal Produces The Mother Of All “We’re Awesome” Emails

Tuesday, October 7, 2008 10:01 AM - By Elie Mystal

Weil.gifWe’ve been covering law firms’ attempts to reassure associates in these troubled times. Because of their respected bankruptcy practice, we’ve assumed that all was well at Weil.

Friday we received word that Weil isn’t just doing “well.” Apparently, “global financial crisis” is how you spell “straight cash homey” at Weil Gotshal. From firm chairman Stephen J. Dannhauser:

To date, our representation of Lehman Brothers Holdings has engaged a large swathe of the firm, more than 100 attorneys and staff working on the many matters this bankruptcy, the largest in US history, has spawned. In addition to the large team providing bankruptcy counsel to Lehman, Weil Gotshal’s corporate team has already aided the company in the structuring and execution of the two largest transactions ever in a Chapter 11 proceeding. These include the sale of substantially all of Lehman’s US investment banking business, its headquarters, two support facilities, and the broker-dealer business (including the real estate and infrastructure necessary to preserve that business) to Barclays, as well as the sale of certain investment-management assets, including the Neuberger Berman division, to private-equity firms Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman.

We’ve noticed a paucity of Weil associates participating in our comment threads, but clearly that is because they are all very busy reupholstering their seat cushions with dollar bills.

Are we sure Weil will just be a bonus “follower” this fall?

Read the full memo after the jump.

We know that Weil is traditionally a market follower when it comes to associate compensation. But at this point, why wouldn’t Weil set the market for bonuses? Chairman Dannhauser closes his firm-wide email with a courteous reach around:

My congratulations and thanks to all of the clients teams who have worked so hard over these last weeks and months in connection with this extraordinary flow of matters. The response of so many in support of our clients in crisis has been remarkable, and the teamwork, dedication, and excellence displayed by the lawyers and staff of Weil Gotshal has been truly gratifying. Our response defines our Firm and I can assure you it has not gone unnoticed by our clients.

If the chairman is noticing excellence and the clients are noticing excellence, why shouldn’t the associates be “extraordinarily” rewarded at the end of the year? Weil attorneys could have reacted to these new matters like the Chicago Cubs — choking their way through the crisis with one hand wrapped around their throats. Instead, according to the chairman, they are putting in a championship performance.

We’ll see if Weil associates get any extra stocking stuffers this holiday season.

WEIL, GOTSHAL & MANGES — MEMORANDUM — STEPHEN J. DANNHAUSER

From: Stephen Dannhauser

As all of you are aware, the global financial industry is undergoing significant distress. I wanted to update you on the principal role our Firm is playing in multiple crises and events, across a wide array of the Firm’s practice groups and offices both in the US and internationally.

To date, our representation of Lehman Brothers Holdings has engaged a large swathe of the firm, more than 100 attorneys and staff working on the many matters this bankruptcy, the largest in US history, has spawned. In addition to the large team providing bankruptcy counsel to Lehman, Weil Gotshal’s corporate team has already aided the company in the structuring and execution of the two largest transactions ever in a Chapter 11 proceeding. These include the sale of substantially all of Lehman’s US investment banking business, its headquarters, two support facilities, and the broker-dealer business (including the real estate and infrastructure necessary to preserve that business) to Barclays, as well as the sale of certain investment-management assets, including the Neuberger Berman division, to private-equity firms Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman.

The sale of Lehman’s US investment banking assets is expected to save nearly 10,000 jobs and preserve the integrity of approximately 600,000 customer accounts. Furthermore, the sale was concluded in just seven days from the commencement of Chapter 11 cases and a SIPC proceeding, and approximately 10 days from the start of the process, an accomplishment that is truly historical and unprecedented.

Late last week, our firm also filed Washington Mutual’s application for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11, the largest bank failure in US history, further demonstrating the premier position that our Firm’s restructuring practice enjoys in the marketplace.

But clients facing distress come to Weil Gotshal for more than restructuring advice - they seek out, as well, the broad-based crisis management and counseling skills of our world-class partners across the spectrum of practices, and many of these recent high-profile representations are the function of our deep, existing relationships, as well as the talented pool of lawyers we have who can handle complex restructurings and crisis management for clients.

These existing relationships, in turn, facilitate the wider engagement of our firm when crises strike. For instance, the work of our securities litigators and structured products group for AIG over the last several months, and our corporate group’s representation of Goldman Sachs and Perella Weinberg as financial advisors to Wachovia in its impending sale, evidence the confidence and trust our clients place in us. Our Corporate Department also represented long-time Firm client General Electric in its recent issuance of stock, including $3 billion of perpetual preferred shares purchased by Warren Buffett and another $12 billion of common stock.

When AIG first retained Weil Gotshal, the outcome of events was uncertain, but at each moment of its crisis, AIG has relied on the counsel of our Firm in the development of legal strategies to address their business challenges. In the case of Wachovia, our M&A lawyers were called upon for their experience with corporate transactions involving distressed businesses and workouts, as they have acted similarly for Lehman, among others, at the highest levels.

Our BF&R Department has now represented ten clients this year in Chapter 11 filings, including all of the largest filings, again confirming our lead position in bankruptcy/restructuring and crisis management. While Lehman and WaMu are truly one-of-a-kind events in the investment banking and commercial banking industries, each of the ten filings we’ve handled this year is unique in its own way and have proliferated work across other practice groups, both here in the US and internationally. Furthermore, there are several significant restructuring matters currently in our pipeline that are the focus of many lawyers across the breadth of our Firm.

My congratulations and thanks to all of the clients teams who have worked so hard over these last weeks and months in connection with this extraordinary flow of matters. The response of so many in support of our clients in crisis has been remarkable, and the teamwork, dedication, and excellence displayed by the lawyers and staff of Weil Gotshal has been truly gratifying. Our response defines our Firm and I can assure you it has not gone unnoticed by our clients.

Thanks.

Steve

Earlier: We’re Super: Thanks For Asking
A Silver Lining to the Wall Street Cloud: More Work for Lawyers (at Shearman, Sullivan, Wachtell, Weil, etc.)

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