The Law Firm of White & Case Acquires the Winston & Strawn SPAC Team

The SPAC Market is heating up among the service providers too….

It was announced today that the “white shoe” law firm of White & Case LLP, has entered the SPAC business by bringing on a new team of lawyers from Winston & Strawn.  The new team, which consists of Joel Rubinstein, Jonathan Rochwarger and Elliott Smith, who will join as partners in New York, and Daniel Nussen, who will join as a counsel in Los Angeles, have worked on numerous SPAC transactions while at Winston. In fact, per the press release, the “Winston team” (now White & Case team) has previously represented clients in more than 35 SPAC IPOs that raised aggregate gross proceeds of more than US$11 billion, and more than 20 SPAC business combination transactions.  As such, this is a big move and Winston is probably not too happy about losing their SPAC roster.

However, it is a very smart move for White & Case, since it automatically gives them a footprint within the SPAC legal field.  Previously, White & Case had largely stayed away from advising on SPAC transactions, but their new interest in participating in these deals is a testament to the current quality of sponsors and combinations.

Additionally, today’s news could further shake up the legal league tables, since a “name brand”, like White & Case, will probably be an attractive and competitive option for SPAC teams looking for a law firm that can advise on both the front-end (IPO) and back-end (combination) of these deals.  Price tag withstanding though since White & Case is sure to be a little pricier.

Nevertheless, as the SPAC market continues on its trajectory of huge growth, we might see additional movement such as this within the law firms and banks.  But as for today’s news, this is a great move for the former Winston guys.