NEW YORK, April 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The Deal announced the results of its quarterly rankings of the top firms and professionals involved in active bankruptcy cases for the first quarter of 2015. Data collected captures only active bankruptcy work on ongoing U.S. and Canadian cases.

"Bankruptcy professionals are seeing a steady increase in smaller companies utilizing Article 9 sales of distressed assets to save significant time and money compared to Section 363 transactions in Chapter 11," said Kirk O'Neil, bankruptcy reporter at The Deal. "Concerns about the expenses associated with Chapter 11 cases will continue to steer smaller companies with uncomplicated cases away from the federal courts until the bankruptcy industry can get a handle on the high cost of fees required in these cases."

League Table highlights:

  • Saul Ewing LLP held onto its ranking from Q2 2014 as the top law firm by volume with $1,097.9 billion in liabilities. Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP was ranked second with $1,077.4 billion in liabilities, followed by Vedder Price PC with $1,033.2 billion in liabilities. DLA Piper was ranked fourth, up six spots from 10th in Q4 2014, with $924.2 billion in liabilities.
  • Among lawyers by volume, Douglas Rosner (Goulston & Storrs PC) rose to the top spot, followed by Richard Hahn (Debevoise & Plimpton LLP), Scott Davidson (King & Spalding LLP) and Daniel Golden (Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP). Peter Gilhuly (Latham & Watkins) rose one spot from last quarter to the fifth spot.
  • For investment banks by volume, the top three banks held on to their rankings since Q2 2014. Blackstone Group LP maintained its lead with $810.2 billion in liabilities, followed by Miller Buckfire & Co. LLC in second place with $724.3 billion in liabilities. Jefferies LLC was in third place with $118.2 billion in liabilities. Solic Capital Advisors LLC ranked fourth with $80.8 billion in liabilities, up four spots from last quarter. Centerview Partners LLC moved down one spot to rank sixth with $65.0 billion in liabilities.
  • The top three investment bankers held on to their rankings from Q2 by volume with Timothy Coleman (Blackstone Group LP) in the lead, followed by Stuart Erickson (Miller Buckfire & Co. LLC) and Leon Szlezinger (Jefferies LLC). Neil Luria (Solic Capital Advisors LLC) moved up seven spots from last quarter to rank fourth.

The full suite of rankings is available now on The Deal and the full report is also available online.

About The Deal's Bankruptcy League Tables
The Deal's Bankruptcy League Tables are the industry's only league tables focused solely on active bankruptcy cases. The Bankruptcy League Tables by volume involve only active U.S. bankruptcy cases of debtors with liabilities of $10 million or more. The rankings are based on the aggregation of those liability values. The table reflects the number of active cases fitting that criteria and may not characterize the total number of active cases. Firms and professionals only get one credit for each active case, not each active assignment. The Bankruptcy League Tables by number involve U.S. and Canadian bankruptcy cases irrespective of debtor asset size. Professionals receive credit for multiple assignments on one case.

About The Deal
The Deal is a media and relationship capital company providing over 100,000 users with business opportunities sourced from proprietary deal news and a relationship discovery tool. Law firms, investment banks, private equity and hedge funds use The Deal's insight and analysis about potential and announced transactions to find their next deal and BoardEx's service and database for building relationships. The Deal has offices in New York, London, Washington, D.C., Petaluma, CA and Chennai, India. For more information, visit www.thedeal.com.

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