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Can anyone tell me more about this? Is it awesome? Is it, as I've heard, the best regulatory work in NY?

Can't speak to S&C directly, but Davis Polk might take issue with your "best in NY" comment. From what I understand, their place in the financial regulation world post Dodd-Frank is pretty unmatched given their work on the tracker and the living wills, among other things. That said, S&C is very much a central wall street institution, so I'm sure they get their share.

S&C's FIG practice is awesome. Along with Davis Polk and a few other big-name NYC firms they split up very close to 100% of the major financial institution regulatory work.

I might actually put S&C ahead of Davis Polk, if only because more recent movies about the big banks/financial crisis have featured S&C lawyers

There's not much to be said other than "it is an absolutely amazing group."

The conventional wisdom is that S&C, DPW, and Cleary dominate this space. Some have slightly more prominent practices in one area of financial regulation or another, and some have historical relationships with certain banks and trade groups that influence their work to an extent.

Can anyone speak to the Skadden NY FIG? I understand they do mostly M&A work. Does anyone know the extent of their FI M&A work? I hear that Davis dominates FI M&A and S&C is strong too. Is Skadden comparable based on their strong M&A practice/ reputation?

http://www.chambersandpartners.com/uk/Firms/8088-70996

You can tell it's a player, but slightly less well regarded, in basically all of the financial institution regulation categories.

I think a good way to put it is this: If you're already at Skadden, then it's a great group you shouldn't avoid. If you KNOW that you want to do FIG work, there's a strong argument to hit up a "better" firm. If you just think it MIGHT be what you want to do, then it could be a factor depending on your other interests and the exact firms in question.

thesealocust wrote:S&C's FIG practice is awesome. Along with Davis Polk and a few other big-name NYC firms they split up very close to 100% of the major financial institution regulatory work.

I might actually put S&C ahead of Davis Polk, if only because more recent movies about the big banks/financial crisis have featured S&C lawyers

There's not much to be said other than "it is an absolutely amazing group."

I agree that DPW and S&C are both up there, but they really have different focuses.

If you're interested in FIG M&A, the top two firms are probably S&C and Wachtell.

If you're interested in FIG regulation (i.e., Dodd-Frank stuff), DPW is head and shoulders above everyone else, with maybe Cleary and S&C following up behind .

Also, I assume you're not interested in insurance (I assume by "FIG" you really meant banks), but it's kind of it's own animal where Debevoise (and formerly Dewey) dominate.