Legal News

Law Blog Deal Journal Post of the Day: A Chat with Wachtell?s Ed Herlihy

By Ashby Jones

We gotta hand it to Heidi Moore, our partner-in-blogging over at the WSJ’s Deal Journal, for a really nice get today: Wachtell Lipton dealmaker Ed Herlihy. Here’s Heidi’s opening:

Remember Casual Fridays? Not in the banking sector, they don’t.

Just ask Ed Herlihy, the veteran banking partner at New York law firm Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz who has been one of the most active deal advisers amid the financial maelstrom. “The financial crisis has changed what a weekend means,” Herlihy told Deal Journal. “Casual Friday has evolved into the day discussions really begin to escalate and Sunday has become the new Monday. Given how closely the global markets are linked today, many of these deals had to get done and announced before the Asian and European markets opened on Monday morning.”

Moore goes on to report that the 61-year-old has become something of a one-man league table. By Dealogic’s count, he and his team have provided legal advice on more than $73 billion of deals this year, including Bank of America’s $2.5 billion acquisition of Countrywide Financial; J.P. Morgan Chase’s $1 billion acquisition of Bear Stearns; Lone Star’s $1.5 acquisition of CIT Group’s mortgage business (and the list, as they say, goes on. . .)

Some good quotes from Herlihy:

• I’ve been a partner for more than 25 years at the firm, and I feel like my whole career has been spent preparing for the work we’ve done in the last couple months.
• Hank Paulson and his team at Treasury are really incredible public servants. I wish the public could see how smart, focused, practical and creative they are behind the scenes, working under enormous pressure. It’s been impressive to watch. There’s no political agendas there, they’re just leveraging all of their experience and training to do whatever they can to stabilize the markets and financial system.
• I am optimistic the worst is over, but it will take some time for the dust to settle and for our system to re-adjust for the long-term.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on October 16, 2008 (boomark / email).