More GM Lawyers – Int’l Ed.

More and more lawyers keep turning up on the GM bankruptcy. At least seven more major firms have secured roles.

After the jump, we’ve got the latest adds, this time with a particularly international flavor.

AmLaw Daily sat down with Covington & Burling’s Stuart Eizenstat:

And what advisory role did you perform for the company?

I was essentially helping the company draft the December and February plans which were sent to Congress and then later to the administration. There was some limited outreach to the government arranging an initial meeting with Rick Wagoner and one or two meetings with [Bush] administration officials. There was also some discussions with the staff on the Hill in preparation for the two [congressional] hearings. But the bulk of our work was on the actual restructuring and viability plans and preparing Rick for the hearings. That was 99 percent of the work.

He was “assisted” by Covington government affairs practice cochair Roderick De Arment and associate Michael Nonaka. We’re not sure how this bailout work dovetails with Weil Gotshal and Dewey & LeBoeuf, who had the lead on the bankruptcy work for the debtor.

Speaking of Weil, the firm is also taking a role on the European side of the matter. London managing partner Mike Francies is advising GM Europe on what to do with Vauxhall.

That TimesOnline piece summarizes some other international work for GM:

So far, most European legal jobs have emerged from the sale of GM Europe’s Opel brand to Magna, a Canadian car parts maker, which was agreed in principle over the weekend. As lead adviser to GM Europe, Clifford Chance has the top role outside of the US. A pan-European deal team led by Kolja von Bismarck in Frankfurt is steering the Opel sale and will represent GM Europe in discussions with its parent and its creditors. …

A London-based team from Baker & McKenzie is working for GM Corp on the Opel deal with Gleiss Lutz acting for Magna. Early interest in Opel from Ripplewood Holdings, a US private equity group, provided a brief role for Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, according to Legal Week.

The €1.5 billion state-backed loan at the heart of the Opel deal created roles for Shearman & Sterling, which advised the German Federal Government, and Simmons & Simmons, which was called in to help the State of Hessia, where Opel is based.

Gliess Lutz, Herbert Smith’s German ally, is among a handful of firms to have secured more than one role in the GM saga — it is the only one advising on both sides of the same transaction. In addition to advising Magna on its bid for Opel, Gleiss Lutz obtained permission from GM to continue an existing job handling competition issues for GM Europe, according to The Lawyer.

Related posts:

1. How Much BigLaw Does a GM Bankruptcy Take?
2. GM Asset Sales and Harvey Back on Top
3. No Car Bailout; Time for Weil to Get in Gear
4. Digging down on Weil’s GM Petition
5. Everything Old is New Again