Institutional Investor's Alpha Magazine - October 2007 - (Page 51)

TOP ONSHORE LAW FIRMS Rank 2007 1 2 3 4 2006 1 3 9 8 Firm SIDLEY AUSTIN SEWARD & KISSEL AKIN GUMP STRAUSS HAUER & FELD SCHULTE ROTH & ZABEL SIDLEY AUSTIN David Sawyier, 56; Michael Schmidtberger, 47; William Kerr, 49, Partners SIDLEY AUSTIN IS A JACK-OF-ALLTRADES. Unlike many of its competitors that are centered on hedge funds, the Chicago-based firm counts servicing the hedge fund industry as just a small portion of its business. But its generalist approach has not hurt Sidley Austin’s standing among hedge fund firms. “We grew up as more of a full-service firm,” says Michael Schmidtberger. The firm’s hedge fund practice began in the late 1970s, when partner David Sawyier began picking up a lot of hedge fund business from Chicago’s commodities traders. Sawyier brought in William Kerr to help oversee the business in 1989. Schmidtberger joined the team in 1990. last year, when it was No. 9 among the ﬁrms that qualify for ratings. The ﬁrm has 70 attorneys in its hedge fund group and last year represented Angelo, Gordon & Co. in the formation of several real estate funds. New York–based Schulte Roth & Zabel, one of the biggest hedge fund practices, which represents roughly 600 firms and more than 2,500 funds, finishes fourth overall, and second — behind Seward & Kissel — among managers in Alpha’s Hedge Fund 100. One of the firm’s major advantages is scope, as it has represented clients such as New York–based alternative investments ﬁrm Cerberus Capital Management on its 2006 majority buyout of Detroit car manufacturer General Motors Corp.’s financing business. Last year’s second-place winner, San Francisco–based Shartsis Friese, falls from this year’s overall ranking. Nonetheless, the ﬁrm continues to rate highly with smaller hedge funds, placing fourth among managers with less than $1 billion in assets. Like Seward & Kissel and Sidley Austin, Shartsis Friese was one of the first firms to start advising hedge fund clients, when the business was in its infancy during the 1970s and ’80s. And as a West Coast firm, Shartsis Friese is benefiting from the still-growing Photos by (left) David Wolfe and (top) Evan Kafka for Alpha California hedge fund industry. Onshore law firms have also begun casting a wider global net. Five years ago, Sidley Austin became the first U.S. law ﬁrm to open a hedge fund practice in Asia, and today its Hong Kong ofﬁce has nine attorneys who work with hedge funds around the globe and, often, around the clock. Now the firm is working on building up a hedge fund practice in London. Last year, Akin Gump began building its U.K. funds practice to establish it as the hub of its Europe and Asia hedge fund business. The expansion is not conﬁned onshore. As offshore jurisdictions such as the island of Jersey aggressively court hedge funds, the top offshore law firms — in particular, Grand Cayman Island–based Ogier; Maples and Calder; and Walkers — are growing rapidly. A year ago, Ogier — which takes top honors among offshore law ﬁrms for a second year in a row — announced plans to merge with WSmiths, a smaller British Virgin Islands–based competitor. The deal boosts the number of lawyers in Ogier’s investment fund group to 40 worldwide and gives the firm a presence in Hong Kong, where WSmiths set up shop in 2006. “We are doing a significant amount of business with INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR’S ALPHA • 51

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Institutional Investor's Alpha Magazine - October 2007

Institutional Investor's Alpha Magazine - October 2007 Contents Letter from the Editor Longs & Shorts Pension Corner: Applied Knowledge The Good Guys: Autism Advocate Interview: Nerves of Steel Cover Story: Ivy League Education Alpha Awards: Top Service Providers: Trying Times Strategies: Passage to India Profile: The Oracle of Irvine Alpha Bytes: Futurama Research Center: Funds of Funds 50 Unhedged: Commentary: Crisis? What Crisis?

Institutional Investor's Alpha Magazine - October 2007

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