Honigman ranked in top three law firms in the U.S. for advising banks and thrifts in 2011

For the third consecutive year, Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP ranked among the top three U.S. legal advisors for banks and thrifts, by number of deals. According to SNL Financial, a leading source for banking data and news, Honigman tied with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP & Affiliates for third place in this national ranking just behind Luse Gorman Pomerenk & Schick, P.C. and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.

Honigman was ranked first in the 2010 and third in the 2009 SNL list for number of deals. In the past three years, Honigman has represented banks in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Washington and Wyoming.

“It is a huge accomplishment for a Michigan-based firm to consistently attain this high national ranking,” said Honigman’s Chairman and CEO David Foltyn. “Phil Torrence joined our firm in 2008 and established our Financial Institutions Practice Group, which he quickly led to prominence and its ranking among some of the largest east coast firms.”

“Banks have merged operations and sold assets to improve capital ratios and reach financial stability. This activity is likely to continue with the increased compliance burden associated with the new bank regulatory regime enacted in the wake of the Dodd-Frank Act,” said Phillip D. Torrence, chair of Honigman’s Financial Institutions Practice Group and office managing partner of the firm’s Kalamazoo office. “While facing these challenges, banks have taken the necessary steps to survive and take advantage of consolidation activities that are likely to continue into 2012 and beyond.”

Honigman’s Financial Institutions Practice Group offers clients a full range of legal services related to mergers and acquisitions, capital raising initiatives, complex regulatory issues, strategic planning and navigation through the financial services environment. The firm regularly serves the special needs of multi-bank holding companies, as well as individual community banks.