Davis Polk top high-yield underwriter's counsel; Kirkland & Ellis top issuer's counsel

New York, Feb. 3 - Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP was the top underwriter's counsel for high-yield bonds in January, according to data compiled by Prospect News.

For issuer's counsel, use of an in-house attorney ranked first but Kirkland & Ellis LLP placed number one when external law firms were used.

Davis Polk was the top legal adviser for underwriters for the junk bond market as a whole but Shearman & Sterling LLP took the top spot for deals sold by issuers based in the United States. Shearman & Sterling was second for the market as a whole while Davis Polk was third for U.S. issuers. Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP was third for the overall market and second for U.S. companies.

In-house counsel was the leading source of advice for both U.S. issuers and the whole junk market, being chosen by 9.05% and 13.09% of deals, respectively.

Kirkland & Ellis LLP was first among external advisers in both cases, followed by Clifford Chance US LLP for all issuers and Shearman & Sterling LLP for U.S. issuers.

The tables cover high-yield bond deals offered in the United States via a registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission or under Rule 144A. The identity of legal advisers was not available for all deals, particularly those from emerging markets issuers.

Underwriter's counsel, U.S. market, all issuers, year to date

	Underwriter's counsel	Amount	No.	Share
1	Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP	3.442	6	14.30%
2	Shearman & Sterling LLP	2.176	4	9.04%
3	Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP	1.946	3	8.09%
4	Baker Botts LLP	1.398	3	5.81%
5	Latham & Watkins LLP	0.528	2	2.19%
6	Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP	0.350	1	1.45%
7	Andrews Kurth LLP	0.101	1	0.42%
	Total	24.069	51
Underwriter's counsel, U.S. market, U.S. issuers, year to date
	Underwriter's counsel	Amount	No.	Share
1	Shearman & Sterling LLP	2.176	4	13.07%
2	Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP	1.946	3	11.69%
3	Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP	1.550	2	9.31%
4	Baker Botts LLP	1.398	3	8.40%
5	Latham & Watkins LLP	0.528	2	3.17%
6	Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP	0.350	1	2.10%
7	Andrews Kurth LLP	0.101	1	0.61%
	Total	16.650	35
Issuer's counsel, U.S. market, all issuers, year to date
	Issuer's counsel	Amount	No.	Share
1	In house	2.179	4	9.05%
2	Kirkland & Ellis LLP	1.646	2	6.84%
3	Clifford Chance US LLP	1.000	1	4.15%
4	Shearman & Sterling LLP	0.775	2	3.22%
5	Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP	0.775	2	3.22%
6	Bracewell & Giuliani LLP	0.750	1	3.12%
7	Vinson & Elkins LLP	0.648	2	2.69%
8	Baker Botts LLP	0.450	1	1.87%
9	Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP	0.300	1	1.25%
10	Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP	0.253	2	1.05%
	Total	24.069	51
Issuer's counsel, U.S. market, U.S. issuers, year to date
	Issuer's counsel	Amount	No.	Share
1	In house	2.179	4	13.09%
2	Kirkland & Ellis LLP	1.646	2	9.89%
3	Shearman & Sterling LLP	0.775	2	4.65%
4	Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP	0.775	2	4.65%
5	Bracewell & Giuliani LLP	0.750	1	4.50%
6	Vinson & Elkins LLP	0.648	2	3.89%
7	Baker Botts LLP	0.450	1	2.70%
8	Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP	0.300	1	1.80%
9	Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP	0.253	2	1.52%
10	Schiff Hardin LLP	0.172	1	1.03%
	Total	16.650	35
	Average size:	0.476
Prospect News High Yield 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.

• Convertibles, trust preferreds, capital securities and preferred stock are excluded.

• Deals rated investment grade by either Standard & Poor's or Moody's Investors Service are excluded, but deals not rated by both are included.

• 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. For multiple firms, the total value is divided equally.

• Units made up of a bond and a warrant are included; other units are excluded.

• Sovereign issues are excluded.

• Each tranche is counted as a separate deal.

• Passthroughs, collateral trust and equipment trust certificates are included.

• Best efforts and non-underwritten deals are excluded as are remarketings.

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