Some Law Firms Profit, Others Lose, in Wachovia Buyout

Legal Week and the Am Law Daily have identified the winning and losing law firms in the buyout of Wachovia by Citigroup.

Here are the winners reported by Legal Week:

• Sullivan & Cromwell, advising Wachovia.

• Davis Polk & Wardwell, advising Citigroup. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom also played a role.

• Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, counsel to the underwriters and disclosure counsel to Citi.

Sullivan & Cromwell served not only as an adviser on the buyout, but also on Wachovia’s biggest deals of the last five years, according to the Am Law Daily story. Other law firms losing Wachovia deal work are Simpson Thacher & Bartlett (which advised on the bank’s purchase of A.G. Edwards), Alston & Bird, and Morrison & Foerster.

Law firms handling most of Wachovia’s litigation are Seyfarth Shaw, Reed Smith and Troutman Sanders.