Cahill once more leads high-yield underwriter's counsel rankings; Simpson Thacher again first for issuers

New York, June 5 - Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP continued to lead the league tables for counsel to underwriters of high-yield bonds, according to data compiled by Prospect News.

Cahill has led the year-to-date rankings for every month of this year as well as for 2012 and all the monthly year-to-date tables during 2012.

So far this year, the firm has advised on $43.90 billion of high-yield bond offerings, 27.7% of the total. That was down slightly from 30.9% for the year through April.

Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP remained in second place and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP was once more third.

Latham & Watkins LLP moved up one position to fourth compared to its fifth place in April, while Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP slipped a notch to fifth from fourth.

Among advisors to issuers, Simpson Thacher was first, as it was for the year through April.

Vinson & Elkins LLP rose to second position from fourth the month before, while Latham & Watkins slipped one place to third, and Debevoise & Plimpton LLP also declined by a single position to fourth. Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP remained in fifth 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. Emerging markets deals are excluded. The identity of legal advisers was not available for all deals, particularly those from emerging markets issuers.

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

2012 Comparables

	Underwriter's counsel	Amount	No.	Share	Rank	Amount	No.	Share
1	Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP	43.899	79	27.67%	1	40.944	69	31.40%
2	Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP	8.154	15	5.14%	3	11.480	21	8.80%
3	Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP	6.776	18	4.27%	2	12.034	25	9.23%
4	Latham & Watkins LLP	5.388	12	3.40%	6	5.453	13	4.18%
5	Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP	3.812	5	2.40%	16	0.275	1	0.21%
6	Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP	2.652	9	1.67%	5	6.446	12	4.94%
7	Shearman & Sterling LLP	2.362	7	1.49%	4	6.864	13	5.26%
8	Baker Botts LLP	1.675	3	1.06%	7	2.317	7	1.78%
9	Paul Hastings LLP	1.525	4	0.96%
10	Vinson & Elkins LLP	1.435	4	0.90%	9	1.431	4	1.10%
	Total	158.638	348	130.398	274
Underwriter's counsel, U.S. market, May
					2012 Comparables
	Underwriter's counsel	Amount	No.	Share	Rank	Amount	No.	Share
1	Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP	8.698	18	18.84%	1	6.219	11	32.93%
2	Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP	3.012	7	6.52%	2	2.073	4	10.98%
3	Latham & Watkins LLP	2.768	7	5.99%	9	0.300	1	1.59%
4	Baker Botts LLP	1.325	2	2.87%	10	0.286	1	1.51%
5	Paul Hastings LLP	1.150	3	2.49%
6	Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy LLP	1.016	4	2.20%
7	Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP	0.700	2	1.52%	4	1.465	4	7.76%
8	Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP	0.521	2	1.13%	5	1.056	3	5.59%
9	White & Case LLP	0.425	1	0.92%
10	Andrews Kurth LLP	0.400	1	0.87%	7	0.600	1	3.18%
	Total	46.174	102	18.884	45
Issuer's counsel, U.S. market, year to date
					2012 Comparables
	Issuer's counsel	Amount	No.	Share	Rank	Amount	No.	Share
1	Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP	11.148	24	7.03%	7	2.593	6	1.99%
2	Vinson & Elkins LLP	5.979	11	3.77%	4	3.394	12	2.60%
3	Latham & Watkins LLP	4.762	8	3.00%	11	1.894	5	1.45%
4	Debevoise & Plimpton LLP	4.163	6	2.62%	2	4.179	8	3.20%
5	Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP	3.280	6	2.07%	9	2.335	4	1.79%
6	Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP	2.972	5	1.87%	12	1.775	2	1.36%
7	Shearman & Sterling LLP	2.920	5	1.84%	5	3.165	6	2.43%
8	Dechert LLP	2.442	6	1.54%
9	Bracewell & Giuliani LLP	2.300	3	1.45%	10	2.102	3	1.61%
10	Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP	1.960	4	1.24%	22	0.676	3	0.52%
	Total	158.638	348	130.398	274
Issuer's counsel, U.S. market, May
					2012 Comparables
	Issuer's counsel	Amount	No.	Share	Rank	Amount	No.	Share
1	Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP	4.878	11	10.56%
2	Vinson & Elkins LLP	2.692	5	5.83%	7	0.300	1	1.59%
3	Dechert LLP	1.300	2	2.82%
4	Paul Hastings LLP	0.750	1	1.62%
5	Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP	0.678	1	1.47%
6	Latham & Watkins LLP	0.600	2	1.30%
7	Clifford Chance US LLP	0.565	2	1.22%
8	In house	0.560	2	1.21%	2	1.900	3	10.06%
9	Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP	0.500	1	1.08%
10	White & Case LLP	0.500	1	1.08%
	Total	46.174	102	18.884	45
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.

• Emerging markets deals 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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