#MeToo in Finance?

We’ve been wondering why there hasn’t been a MeToo reckoning for finance or biglaw. We've been assuming, frankly, that it was only a matter of time given the head-rolling that's occurred in tech and media. Admittedly, our first thought was, “Well...there have to women to harass." We shouldn’t be so flippant. The numbers are one issue; harassment is entirely another.

Thankfully, this week Bloomberg asked the same question, as did the New Yorker. The answer, in a nutshell, is (reported as) a combination of factors: (i) a prior industry cleanup (laughable); (ii) early sexual harassment training (hahaha, c’mon!), (iii) arbitration requirements that hush things up (sounds like part of it), (iv) the cost-benefit analysis, particularly as it relates to complaining about the very person who sets your comp (ding ding). This behavior happens, no doubt. And the bottom line is that women shouldn’t be put in a position where they even have to make the cost-benefit analysis of coming forward. Period. So, don’t do that.

P.S. Combining client meetings and the gym probably won't help promote inclusiveness.
P.S.S. Law firms like Stroock & Stroock & Lavan and Dechert LLP are showing efforts (here and here, respectively) to take workplace sexual misconduct more seriously.

What the Pros Say (04/23/17)

• Intercreditor Agreements. Skadden's Ron Meisler and Carl Tullson discuss recent trends.

• Third Party Releases. And Delaware bankruptcy professionals are wondering why cases are filing elsewhere? See this summary of a recent case on the topic by Cole Schotz' Katharina Earle. Shmuel Vasser and Andrew Harmeyer from Dechert LLP also summarized the case here.

Notable (Hostess Brands, Shoes.com & More)

• Hostess Brands. Slightly older news but we were hunting for Easter eggs last week. Anyway, Hostess Brands is back in the public markets now ($TWNK) and, notably, Apollo Global Management has reduced its holdings from 16.9% to 2.6% according to SEC filings. This appears to be a very successful turnaround and exit for the publicly-traded private equity shop ($APO).

• Reorg Research. Something tells us that Dechert LLP's subscription rate is about to go up. 

• Shoes.com. We previously noted the failure of Canadian company Shoes.com.Walmart, it seems, has purchased the URL of the company for $9mm, an interesting comp for distressed IP go-forward.

What the Pros Say (Week of 4/2/17)

• Jevic/Structured Dismissals. So. Many. Summaries. We understand the awkwardness of claiming to be "curated" while simply listing a dozen different firm's summaries without, at a minimum, opining as to which ones were mailed in and which ones were extensive thoughtful analyses. But, c'mon, do YOU really want to read 12 different summaries of the same case? Well, right, neither do we. Enjoy. P.S. If your firm hasn't produced one yet well...you might as well not even bother at this point.
  • Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer (Tyler Nurnberg, Michael Messersmith, Michael Bernstein) here.
  • Bracewell LLP (Kurt Mayr, Shannon Wolf) here.
  • Dechert LLP (Mysterious Legal summary bot) here.
• Drinker Biddle (Steven Kortanek and Patrick Jackson) here.
• Duane Morris (Rudolph Di Massa Jr., Christopher Winter) here.
• Foley & Lardner LLP (Charles Tabb) here. 
• Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP (Adam Rogoff, Joseph Shifer, Alana Katz) here.
• Jones Day (Bruce Bennett, Brad Erens, Dan Moss) here.
• O'Melveny & Meyers LLP (Evan Jones, Peter Friedman, Daniel Shamah, George Davis, John Rapisardi, Suzzanne Uhland) here. 
• Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP (Michael Lauter) here.
• Vinson & Elkins LLP (William Wallander, David Meyer) here.
• Winston & Strawn LLP (Everyone) here. 

What the Pros Say (01/29/17)

• DIP Carveout. Aaron Stulman of Ashby & Geddes summarizes the recent DE opinion indicating that a DIP carveout does not limit a UCC's professional fees post-confirmation.
• EFIH. Still. Talking. About. This. 
• TIA/Marblegate. More commentary on the recent decision by Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP (unattributed - maybe some bot wrote it?), Latham & Watkins LLP, Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, Olshan, Dechert LLP, Mayer Brown, Reed Smith, and some different commentary about the decision's affect on European restructurings from Weil. And then there's Milbank, which makes the decision almost entirely about it. 

What the Pros Say (Week of 01/08/17)

• Death Traps. Katharina Earle of Cole Schotz PC discusses the risks of proposing death traps in a plan.
• Energy. The US Energy Information Administration has released its annual energy outlook with forecasts through 2050.
• Lease Rejections. Kenneth Rosen of Lowenstein Sandler LLP articulates that BC 365(d)(4) is causing retail liquidations.
• Makewhole. Gregory Horowitz of Kramer Levin reviews the EFIH decision.
• Privacy. Shmuel Vasser of Dechert LLP discusses internet privacy issues in the context of international bankruptcies.
• Professional Fees. Michael Cook of Schulte Roth & Zabel summarizes the recent In re Relativity Fashion LLC case relating to objections to investment banking transaction fees. In this instance, attempts to revisit 328-approved fees failed. For some inexplicable reason, Cook doesn't indicate whose applications were at risk - to the point of blatantly avoiding it even though the court makes no attempt to hide it. To spare you the suspense, it was Houlihan Lokey and PJT Partners LP that were attacked. 
• Takata. Brendan Best of Varnum LLP writes about the implications of a Takata bankruptcy for trade creditors.