Paul S. Scrivano

Menlo Park

Corporate

When Silicon Valley Bank collapsed in March, federal regulators took over, created a bridge bank to maintain operations -- and sought help from Paul S. Scrivano, the head of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP's West Coast mergers and acquisitions practice.

Scrivano had joined the firm in 2022. He'd served in similar M&A leadership posts at Ropes & Gray LLP and O'Melveny & Myers LLP. He graduated magna cum laude from New York University School of Law.

"From law school, Davis Polk was one of the firms you'd like to get an offer from," Scrivano said. "It was always in the back of my mind. So during COVID, I got a call asking if I'd take a meeting with [Davis Polk chair] Neil Barr. I said yes."

His timing was good. Davis Polk became one of the go-to law firms aiding the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s rescue efforts during the 2023 banking crisis. Scrivano and colleagues played a key role in providing strategic, regulatory, corporate law, privacy and other advice to Silicon Valley Bridge Bank as it was acquired by First Citizens BancShares.

The FDIC protected depositors. First Citizens assumed Silicon Valley Bridge Bank's assets of $110 billion and deposits of $56 billion. The crisis began to stabilize.

"It still surprises me," Scrivano said. "Silicon Valley Bank was so woven into the culture here, and then they unraveled over a 48-hour period. It was stunning, and then I was in the middle of it. Our response was a classic example of the exigent circumstances we're able to respond to. Davis Polk has a long history of representing banks and financial institutions."

As the economy absorbed the shock and other banks wobbled, many reached out. "From March to May, we got more calls than I could have imagined," Scrivano said.

"This country does not have a good experience with bank runs," Scrivano continued. "The fear's been there since the Great Depression, and it came back in '08. Now it's in the rearview mirror. We got it done with high-pressure action on a moment's notice."

Scrivano is a veteran of difficult deals. In 2022, he closed one of the largest recent software transactions when client McAfee Corp. was acquired for $14 billion in a cross-border club deal replete with complex elements.

"No crisis plan ever survives contact with the crisis," he said, retooling an old maxim. "You've got to be nimble, flexible and creative."

--John Roemer