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Counsel league table

Every SPAC IPO has at least two law firms on the cover: one for the issuer (drafts the S-1, papers the trust and the founder shares) and one for the underwriters. A Cayman shell adds a third — offshore local counsel, who gives the validity opinion on the shares themselves. All three are read from the filed prospectus and cited by accession.

Law firms
99
named in a filed prospectus
Issuer-side mandates
333
counsel to the SPAC
Underwriter-side
336
counsel to the banks
Offshore opinions
276
Cayman / BVI local counsel engagements

Issuer counsel

acts for the SPAC

Underwriter counsel

acts for the banks

32 firms appear on both sides of the market — issuer counsel on one SPAC, underwriter counsel on another. That is normal in a market this concentrated, and it is exactly why the roles are counted separately here rather than folded into one “mandates” number.

Every law firm

issuer, underwriter and offshore roles side by side
#FirmSPACsIssuerUnderwriterOffshoreShare of covered SPACs
1Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP1146054—32.8%
2Loeb & Loeb LLP1005644—28.7%
3Ogier (Cayman) LLP78——7822.4%
4Appleby (Cayman) Ltd.641—6318.4%
5Maples and Calder (Cayman) LLP61——6117.5%
6DLA Piper LLP (US)371225—10.6%
7Kirkland & Ellis LLP36729—10.3%
8White & Case LLP291316—8.3%
9Greenberg Traurig, LLP26206—7.5%
10Winston & Strawn LLP221210—6.3%
11Graubard Miller22913—6.3%
12Paul Hastings LLP21138—6.0%
13Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP19415—5.5%
14Robinson & Cole LLP19109—5.5%
15Conyers Dill & Pearman LLP17——174.9%
16King & Spalding LLP15511—4.3%
17Forbes Hare LLP15——154.3%
18Walkers (Cayman) LLP14——144.0%
19Ropes & Gray LLP11—11—3.2%
20Perkins Coie LLP1111——3.2%
21Sichenzia Ross Ference Carmel LLP1165—3.2%
22Celine and Partners, P.L.L.C.1010——2.9%
23Reed Smith LLP963—2.6%
24Latham & Watkins LLP963—2.6%
25Harney Westwood & Riegels81—72.3%
26Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP716—2.0%
27Allen Overy Shearman Sterling US LLP6—6—1.7%
28Vinson & Elkins L.L.P.633—1.7%
29Carey Olsen Cayman Limited6——61.7%
30O'Melveny & Myers LLP615—1.7%
31Hunter Taubman Fischer & Li LLC624—1.7%
32Mourant Ozannes (Cayman) LLP5——51.4%
33Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP532—1.4%
34Holland & Knight LLP5—5—1.4%
35Becker & Poliakoff LLP541—1.4%
36Maples and Calder (Hong Kong) LLP4——41.1%
37Stevens & Lee, P.C.44——1.1%
38Freshfields US LLP4—4—1.1%
39Lucosky Brookman LLP413—1.1%
40Lowenstein Sandler LLP431—1.1%
41Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP422—1.1%
42McDermott Will & Schulte LLP413—1.1%
43Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP321—0.9%
44Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP312—0.9%
45Rimon, P.C.321—0.9%
46Blank Rome LLP3—3—0.9%
47Goodwin Procter LLP321—0.9%
48Sidley Austin LLP22——0.6%
49Clifford Chance US LLP211—0.6%
50Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.2—2—0.6%
51Edelman Legal Advisory PLLC22——0.6%
52Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP22——0.6%
53Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP22——0.6%
54Winston & Taylor LLP211—0.6%
55Venable LLP22——0.6%
56Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP22——0.6%
57Nelsons Legal2——20.6%
58Whiteford, Taylor & Preston LLP2—2—0.6%
59Cooley LLP22——0.6%
60Proskauer Rose LLP211—0.6%
61Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP2—2—0.6%
62Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz11——0.3%
63Paulo, Brazil11——0.3%
64Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (UK) LLP11——0.3%
65Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, is acting as legal1—1—0.3%
66Appleby Global Services (Cayman) Limited1——10.3%
67Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer (US) LLP11——0.3%
68Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP11——0.3%
69Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP11——0.3%
70Baker Botts L.L.P.1—1—0.3%
71Willkie Farr & Gallagher, LLP11——0.3%
72Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP11——0.3%
73Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP11——0.3%
74Cohen & Gresser LLP11——0.3%
75Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff LLP11——0.3%
76Dykema Gossett PLLC11——0.3%
77ArentFox Schiff LLP11——0.3%
78Kamps Legal, P.C.1—1—0.3%
79Ruskin Moscou Faltischek, P.C.11——0.3%
80Seward & Kissel LLP1—1—0.3%
81Venture Bridge Legal11——0.3%
82Haynes and Boone, LLP11——0.3%
83Torres Zheng at Law, P.C.11——0.3%
84Loev Law Firm1—1—0.3%
85Ortoli Rosenstadt LLP1—1—0.3%
86Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C.11——0.3%
87Ye & Associates1—1—0.3%
88Baker & Hostetler LLP1—1—0.3%
89K&L Gates LLP1—1—0.3%
90Olshan Frome Wolosky LLP1—1—0.3%
91Kesse PLLC11——0.3%
92Concord & Sage P.C11——0.3%
93Campbells LLP1——10.3%
94EGAL MATTERS Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Professional Corporation11——0.3%
95Forbes Hare (Cayman)1——10.3%
96Han Kun Law Offices LLP1—1—0.3%
97R imon P.C.11——0.3%
98Sichenzia Ross Ference LLP1—1—0.3%
99Stuarts Walker Hersant Humphries1——10.3%

Coverage: 945 engagements across 99 firms, read out of IPO prospectuses (S-1 / 424B4) and cited by accession. Counsel is on file for 348 of 1288 tracked SPACs (27%), and every share figure on this page is a share of those 348 — never of the whole fleet. A SPAC whose prospectus has not been parsed yet is absent, not zero.