Law flaw

4 April 2016 By Reynolds Holding Follow @holdingren

Paul Weiss hired a longtime Cravath, Swaine & Moore partner to be global head of mergers. Scott Barshay advised on over $250 bln of deals last year, almost as much as his new employer. The verdict is out, however, on just how much law firms can benefit from poaching rainmakers.

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U.S. law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison on April 3 said it had hired Scott Barshay, one of rival Cravath, Swaine & Moore’s biggest dealmakers, as global head of mergers and acquisitions.

Paul Weiss ranked 19th last year among other law firms in the Thomson Reuters M&A global league table, having advised on $309 billion of announced deals. Cravath ranked second, with $927 billion of announced deals.

Barshay worked on transactions with a total value of more than $250 billion last year. Deals included 3G Capital and H.J. Heinz’s $60 billion merger with Kraft, Anheuser-Busch InBev’s $107 billion acquisition of SABMiller and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide’s pending $13.6 billion sale to Marriott International.

Barshay has also served as an adviser to many companies defending themselves against activist investors, including Avon Products on its settlement agreement with Barington Capital, Qualcomm against Jana Partners and Xerox against Carl Icahn.

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