Magazine Dubs Sullivan’s H. Rodgin Cohen Dealmaker of the Year
The American Lawyer has chosen H. Rodgin Cohen as dealmaker of the year for his central role advising or drafting deals for some of the nation’s top financial players during the economic meltdown.
Cohen, of Sullivan & Cromwell, “was Wall Street’s go-to lawyer during the most important months for the American banking industry since the Great Depression,” the American Lawyer reports in a story about its choice. He advised clients on at least 17 mergers, bailouts and cash infusions related to the credit crisis, according to the magazine. (He was also recently profiled by the ABA Journal in a story focusing on one busy day in his life during the financial meltdown.)
“He was in the room when Bear Stearns was sold, when Fannie Mae was nationalized, and when Lehman Brothers died,” the American Lawyer story says of Cohen. “He helped American International Group secure an $85 billion bailout and told Wachovia’s board of directors that they should spurn Citigroup’s buyout offer in favor of one from Wells Fargo. More than any other lawyer, in a year when relationships with government authorities were invaluable, he knew which officials to call at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, at the Federal Reserve, at the Securities and Exchange Commission—the people, he says, to whom ‘you could bring a problem and they would help you find a solution.’ ”
The magazine chose 25 top dealmakers for 2008. Others in the top five were:
2) Edward Herlihy of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz for his representation of Bank of America in its acquisition of Merrill Lynch.
3) Harvey Miller of Weil, Gotshal & Manges, for his representation of Lehman Brothers in bankruptcy.
4) Lee Meyerson of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, who helped create the Troubled Asset Relief Program for the Treasury Department.
5) Michael Wiseman of Sullivan & Cromwell, for his advice to AIG on bailout solutions.
