Squire Sanders & Dempsey and Hughes Hubbard & Reed were each awarded contracts worth up to about $5.5m (£3.5m) to assist the US Treasury in the execution of transactions under the new Emergency Economic Stabilisation Act, as the bailout package is formally known. The plan allows the US Government to purchase distressed assets from the nation's banks.
According to a press release from the Treasury Department, the firms' duties include "reviewing executed investment agreements, working directly with accepted financial institutions to identify and resolve and legal issues before closing, and conducting the closing of transactions."
The department said that the law firms will work with about 2,000 financial firms as they navigate the new government programme.
Both New York-based Hughes Hubbard and Squire Sanders declined to comment on the contracts. The two law firm contracts run through April 28, 2009.
The Treasury Department said that it asked five law firms to bid on the bailout work, and that four firms responded in late October. It did not disclose the names of the firms that were asked to bid on the work.
New York-based Simpson Thacher & Bartlett was awarded a $300,000 (£188,000) contract from the Treasury Department in early October to consult on the bailout.
The National Law Journal is a
