Bank Crisis Has Wall Street Legal Vets Reprising Top Roles (1)

H. Rodgin “Rodge” Cohen and Mitchell Eitel are comfortable in disasters.

“This is our third major financial crisis,” said Eitel, a partner with Cohen at Wall Street law firm Sullivan & Cromwell.

Cohen worked on 17 deals stemming from the 2008 banking meltdown, including JPMorgan Chase’s purchase of Bear Stearns and the US government bailout of insurance giant AIG. Eitel advised JPMorgan during the same time in its $1.9 billion takeover of Washington Mutual after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation seized the thrift.

The pair is among the familiar faces that banks and regulators are turning to for legal assistance ...