JPMorgan Chase’s sweetened bid for Bear Stearns, and the legal loophole that may have forced the acquiring bank’s hand, has drawn attention to the high-powered lawyers involved. The negotiations pitted the Wall Street law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, which counselled JPMorgan, against three others, Bear’s attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and Cadwalader, and Wickersham & Taft. At issue was a clause that would have forced JPMorgan to guarantee Bear’s trades for a year under certain circumstances, even if the deal never closed.
