TARPy Days Indeed: Two More Firms Pick Up Bailout Work

[WSJ_law_blog]

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson briefs reporters, Sept. 19, 2008. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)

A few weeks back, we wrote about the predicted effect the Bailout Bill and the Troubled Asset Relief Program would have on law firms. In two words: More Work. Shortly thereafter, we got word that Simpson Thacher & Bartlett had signed a contract with the Treasury Department to provide legal advice in the deployment of the act.

The latest beneficiaries? Hughes Hubbard & Reed and Squire Sanders & Dempsey. Each has signed on to help Treasury with the crush of transactions it faces. In return, each firm is slated to receive about $5.5 million. According to the Treasury:

The firms will help the Department with executing transactions under the program, which includes reviewing executed investment agreements, working directly with accepted financial institutions to identify and resolve any legal issues before closing, and conducting the closing of transactions.

The engagements are scheduled to run roughly through the end of April. Click here for the Treasury’s release; here for the Reuters story, via Above the Law. (Procurement junkies (and you know who you are), click here and here for the contracts themselves.)

A call to Hughes Hubbard was not returned. A spokeswoman for Squire Sanders declined to comment.