Cahill Gordon top high-yield underwriter's counsel; Simpson Thacher top issuer's counsel

New York, May 3 - Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP was the top underwriter's counsel for high-yield bonds for the first four months of the year, according to data compiled by Prospect News.

For issuer's counsel, use of an in-house attorney ranked first. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP was the leader when issuers used an external law firm.

Once more Cahill was far ahead of other firms as underwriter's counsel, working on $34.67 billion of junk bonds, or 28.8% of the year-to-date total. Cahill also led for the year through March and the year through February.

Cahill's total was more than three times that of second placed Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, which advised underwriters for $9.96 billion of new issues in 21 transactions. Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP moved up to third place this month with $6.49 billion in 11 deals.

In-house counsel was the leading source of advice for issuers. This was the option taken by issuers of $5.53 billion of deals, 4.6% of the total.

Simpson Thacher, the leading external firm, worked on eight deals totaling $3.29 billion, or 2.7% of the market. It pushed Vinson & Elkins LLP, which was the top external counsel for the first quarter, into second place.

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	Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP	34.674	57	28.84%
2	Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP	9.961	21	8.29%
3	Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP	6.492	11	5.40%
4	Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP	6.090	9	5.07%
5	Shearman & Sterling LLP	5.316	11	4.42%
6	Latham & Watkins LLP	5.153	12	4.29%
7	Baker Botts LLP	2.031	6	1.69%
8	Vinson & Elkins LLP	1.181	3	0.98%
9	Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP	0.975	2	0.81%
10	Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP	0.796	2	0.66%
	Total	120.195	250
Underwriter's counsel, U.S. market, U.S. issuers, year to date
	Underwriter's counsel	Amount	No.	Share
1	Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP	22.573	34	28.54%
2	Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP	8.590	16	10.86%
3	Latham & Watkins LLP	4.903	11	6.20%
4	Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP	4.090	6	5.17%
5	Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP	3.250	5	4.11%
6	Shearman & Sterling LLP	2.676	6	3.38%
7	Baker Botts LLP	2.031	6	2.57%
8	Vinson & Elkins LLP	1.181	3	1.49%
9	Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP	0.796	2	1.01%
10	Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP	0.500	1	0.63%
	Total	96.816	193
Issuer's counsel, U.S. market, all issuers, year to date
	Issuer's counsel	Amount	No.	Share
1	In house	5.532	19	4.60%
2	Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP	3.291	8	2.74%
3	Vinson & Elkins LLP	3.094	11	2.57%
4	Baker Botts LLP	2.746	6	2.29%
5	Bracewell & Giuliani LLP	2.102	3	1.75%
6	Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP	2.089	3	1.74%
7	Kirkland & Ellis LLP	1.952	5	1.62%
8	Sullivan & Cromwell LLP	1.950	2	1.62%
9	Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy LLP	1.700	3	1.41%
10	Latham & Watkins LLP	1.650	3	1.37%
	Total	120.195	250
Issuer's counsel, U.S. market, U.S. issuers, year to date
	Issuer's counsel	Amount	No.	Share
1	In house	5.532	19	5.71%
2	Vinson & Elkins LLP	2.995	10	3.09%
3	Baker Botts LLP	2.746	6	2.84%
4	Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP	2.593	6	2.68%
5	Bracewell & Giuliani LLP	2.102	3	2.17%
6	Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP	2.089	3	2.16%
7	Kirkland & Ellis LLP	1.952	5	2.02%
8	Sullivan & Cromwell LLP	1.950	2	2.01%
9	Latham & Watkins LLP	1.650	3	1.70%
10	Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP	1.501	5	1.55%
	Total	96.816	193
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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