Lehman Bros. 5.67 D Series Preferred ( fka LEHDQ)

[coach tequila]

Weil Turns Over Documents to Barclays Counsel in Lehman Bankruptcy Litigation over Barclays Deal

http://www.law.com/jsp/tal/digestTAL.jsp?id=1202435242215&Weil_Turns_Over_Documents_to_Barclays_Counsel_in_Lehman_Bankruptcy_Litigation_over_Barclays_Deal

By Alison Frankel
November 06, 2009

No wonder Weil, Gotshal & Manges brought in conflicts counsel from Jones Day to look into Lehman's hurry-up sale of its crown-jewel assets to Barclays. Weil's own work on the deal, according to Zach Lowe's terrific scoop at The Am Law Daily, is now being scrutinized by Barclays' lawyers.

As we've previously reported, in September, Jones Day filed a fiery motion with Manhattan federal bankruptcy court judge James Peck, asserting that the sale to Barclays, which took place in the first days of Lehman's bankruptcy, was tainted by secret dealings between Barclays and some Lehman execs. Jones Day claimed Barclays received an $8.2 billion windfall in the deal. Its motion asked Judge Peck to modify his order approving the sale, arguing that he okayed it based on "an inaccurate record due to mistake, inadvertence, or misrepresentations to the court."

Lehman's counsel on the deal (as Ben Hallman vividly recounts in this American Lawyer story), was Weil Gotshal. The Jones Day motion said that Lehman's attorneys knew nothing about the alleged secret agreemet at the time the deal was struck. But Lowe reports that Barclays counsel from Boies, Schiller & Flexner want to test that assertion. They've responded to the Jones Day motion with a subpoena to Weil, demanding documents related to the Jones Day motion.

Weil has apparently complied with the subpoena, according to Lowe. Under the terms of a protective order filed Thursday in the bankruptcy, Weil can designate some documents as "confidential," and those will held under seal by Judge Peck. "But the order says that Weil 'shall not designate as confidential material that relates to subject matters' addressed in Lehman's request that the Barclays deal be modified," Lowe reports.

No one from Weil, Jones Day, or Boies Schiller commented to Lowe. But we can't wait to see what happens next.

FYI

Coach T