Simmons & Simmons has scored a role on the first litigation to emerge against the European administrators of Lehman Brothers.
The firm is taking the lead for hedge fund RAB Capital, which has come forward as one of the first claimants looking to recover some of the 22 billion pounds in assets frozen when Lehman went into administration last week.
RAB Capital has gone to court to try to reclaim $50 million of its assets held by the failed bank.
Financial litigation partner Robert Turner is leading the Simmons team for RAB, with Simon Mortimore QC and Andreas Gledhill of 3-4 South Square instructed as counsel.
As previously reported by Legal Week, Linklaters has scored the lead role for administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) on the bank's collapse. The Magic Circle firm has instructed 3-4 South Square, with William Trower QC and Daniel Bayfield appointed.
The fallout from Lehman's collapse has generated roles for a raft of firms with instructions emerging for Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, Ashurst and Osborne Clarke so far this week.
Skadden has landed the top role on Japanese investment bank Nomura's acquisition of both Lehman's Asia-Pacific operations and its European and Middle Eastern equities and investment banking operations.
Both deals were announced this week, also generating roles for Ashurst -- on behalf of Lehman's investment banking division -- and Osborne Clarke, which is providing Nomura with employment advice. Linklaters is advising Lehman's Asian liquidators KPMG from the firm's Hong Kong office as well as PwC.
Simmons' role for RAB is likely to be the first of many litigation roles for London firms in the wake of the bankruptcy filing. Litigators are predicting a surge of claims, with many receiving calls from clients asking about their positions within days of the bank's collapse.
