Davis Polk & Wardwell top legal counsel to underwriters of convertible bonds for year to date

By Rebecca Melvin

New York, July 5 - International law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP remained on top of the legal league tables as most active legal counsel to underwriters of convertible bonds for the year to date through June, accounting for 19.6% of total volume under its guidance, or $2.11 billion in eight deals, according to data compiled by Prospect News.

Latham & Watkins LLP was No. 2 counsel, with the global law firm accounting for $1.48 billion of issuance in six deals, or 13.8% of the total.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP took the third slot in the rankings of legal counsel to convertible underwriters, with $1.34 billion in issuance in four deals, or 12.4% of the total, and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP ranked fourth, with $1.17 million in convertibles issuance under its guidance via the underwriters.

As for legal counsel to issuers of convertible debt, the majority of issuers used in-house legal counsel, which accounted for $1.04 billion in issuance in three deals, for 9.7% of the total for the year to date through June.

A close second was international law firm Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, which provided legal counsel to issuers of $995 million of convertibles, or 9.3% of the total.

K&L Gates LLP was the third-ranking legal counsel to issuers for the year to date with $785 million of issuance, or 7.3% of total volume of issuance under its guidance.

Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP was fourth, with $690 million of issuance for 6.4%.

Details on the legal counsel of all new issues were not available to Prospect News. Total issuance for the year to date is $10.76 billion in 37 deals, which is down from $19.57 billion in 59 deals for the same period of 2011.

U.S. market, year to date

2011 Comparables

	Underwriter's counsel	Amount	No.	Share	Rank	Amount	No.	Share
1	Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP	2.112	8	19.63%	2	3.818	19	19.51%
2	Latham & Watkins LLP	1.483	6	13.78%	5	1.664	5	8.50%
3	Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP	1.335	4	12.41%	6	1.566	7	8.00%
4	Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP	1.165	3	10.83%	4	1.981	4	10.12%
5	Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP	0.862	2	8.01%	7	0.696	4	3.56%
6	Hunton & Williams LLP	0.570	1	5.30%
7	Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP	0.230	1	2.14%	12	0.155	1	0.79%
8	Morrison & Foerster LLP	0.200	1	1.86%
9	Baker Botts LLP	0.150	1	1.39%
10	Troutman Sanders LLP	0.127	1	1.18%	10	0.172	1	0.88%
	Total	10.761	37	19.570	59
U.S. market, year to date
					2011 Comparables
	Issuer's counsel	Amount	No.	Share	Rank	Amount	No.	Share
1	In house	1.043	3	9.69%
2	Sullivan & Cromwell LLP	0.995	1	9.25%	14	0.287	1.000	1.47%
3	K&L Gates LLP	0.785	2	7.30%
4	Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP	0.690	1	6.41%
5	Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati	0.632	2	5.88%	31	0.075	1	0.38%
6	Hogan Lovells US LLP	0.520	2	4.83%
7	Latham & Watkins LLP	0.500	1	4.65%	5	0.999	5	5.11%
8	DLA Piper LLP	0.350	2	3.25%	11	0.403	1	2.06%
9	Vinson & Elkins LLP	0.300	1	2.79%
10	Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP	0.285	1	2.65%
	Total	10.761	37	19.570	59
Prospect News Convertibles Counsel Rankings

Criteria

• The tables include all underwritten dollar-denominated offerings sold in the United States as public or Rule 144A deals reported to Prospect News.

• Offerings are included in the time period in which they price.

• Amounts are based on the total sales price (face amount multiplied by the offering price). The full amount is credited to the issuer's counsel or underwriter's counsel.

• Each tranche is counted as a separate deal.

• Bonds are included that convert into the issuer's or another company's stock or the cash equivalent; bonds that convert into other bonds are excluded.

• Structured products are excluded.

• Preferred issues are included using the same criteria as for bonds.

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