Proposed Chevron Acquisition of Hess - Paul Weiss Handles Chevron Part of the Deal

"Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Hess Corporation (NYSE: HES) to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Hess in an all-stock transaction valued at $53 billion, or $171 per share based on Chevron’s closing price on October 20, 2023. Under the terms of the agreement, Hess shareholders will receive 1.0250 shares of Chevron for each Hess share. The total enterprise value, including debt, of the transaction is $60 billion." - Business Wire, October 23, 2023

MAJOR DEALMAKING ACCOUNT FOR PAUL WEISS

It is law firm Paul Weiss which gets to handle the Chevron part of the deal. It has a long relationship with Chevron. So connected the two have been that the SEC questioned if Paul Weiss could be independent enough in a racial audit. But that issue is small potatoes compared to the high financial and branding stakes for Paul Weiss in overseeing the legalities of this dealmaking. 

Overall, there is speculation that M&A, after a too long dry spell, is picking up. However, even in the worst of times, Paul Weiss has held its own. DealRoom rates it as among the top 10 players in that niche:

  1. Cravath, Swaine, & Moore LLP
  2. Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
  3. Kirkland & Ellis LLP
  4. Latham & Watkins LLP
  5. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton, & Garrison LLP
  6. Simpson, Thatcher & Bartlett LLP
  7. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
  8. Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
  9. Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
  10. Shearman & Sterling LLP

THE SEEMING REBRANDING OF PAUL WEISS

Since his new term in office as chair of Paul Weiss Brad Karp seems to have repositioned and repackaged the firm as more opportunistic. For example, with the predicted boom in Private Equity in Europe, Paul Weiss raided competitor Kirkland & Ellis' London office three times for that specialized talent. Overall the professional anonymous networks, usually critical of Big Law firms, are paying homage to Paul Weiss. Even in the down cycles, such as the recent current one, it did not lay off. Also it is hiring junior laterals. Karp has become the guy with the jobs. Wearing my communications hat, I recommend he put together a Ted Talk on job creation. 

That's the sandbox lawyers play in.

A QUITE PECULIAR EXPERIENCE

For me in communications, hired in on a contract retainer basis, that wasn't the story. Or so I lived it. It was a shocker because I assumed that Karp and I shared a mutual respect for each one’s expertise. However, Karp wasn’t directly in the loop for this one.

For the two months before I pulled the plug on that lucrative arrangement I received from Paul Weiss CMO Luke Ferrandino:

No real work. To simulate a work product I scrambled to dig up topics to blog about. That was tough since, no, I am not a lawyer.

No contract specifying my duties. I actually wondered why I had been hired.

No contract specifying a time frame for contract employment. Should I be hunting for a lot of other work from both professional services businesses and from industry?

No NDA making explicit what I could disclose and not disclose. Since I often wear the journalist hat that might be interpreted as reckless by a law firm. Quite odd too since the party contracting with not any Mom & Pop enterprise.

No metrics for assessing my performance. I tap danced on the rim of fear wondering if I would enter the shameful state of being given the boot because of my performance. In a sense that was from Kafka novel since there was no work. Obviously, with that lack of reality power was so unequal. No, let me reframe that: I lacked the power of my work to stand up to the law firm’s power.

Two months in, I terminated the relationship. That was June 1, 2022. But I still can't shake off the experience. That's despite the financial reality that I did put together a new enterprise a month after exiting. Yes, on the one hand, I seem to be resilient. But, on the other hand, my wiring seems to remain badly frayed.

NO EXIT RAMP, AT LEAST NOT YET

However, that strange two-month interlude, a force field I still can't emotionally and spiritually exit, has helped me be a more understanding career coach for those who also wind up in some kind of shock, ambiguity and disappointment.

One form of healing, but not the only one of course, is to keep telling your story until it is no longer your story. A fresh narrative crowds that one out. I wish I were finished with that saga. But, no, not yet. A blockage is that I still admire the work of Paul Weiss.

Data or the gut for your careers and communications? Both of course. Complimentary consultation with intuitive coach, content-creator, and Tarot reader Jane Genova (text 203-468-8579, janegenova374@gmail.com).

 

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