The Crisis
Analogy has been piled on analogy in an effort to describe the financial crisis of recent weeks. It's a meltdown. It's a collapse. It's the return of the Great Depression. We turn to prominent M&A lawyers, investment bankers, and private equity moguls to try to guage what has happened and what might happen next.

M&A Malaise
A survey by Dykema of leading company executives and outside advisors on the direction of the M&A market in 2009.

Where We Are Now
Richard Climan, of Cooley Godward Kornish, and Wachtell's Daniel Neff go back and forth with their California and New York perspectives on the markets.

H. Rodgin Cohen
The chairman of Sullivan & Cromwell and the doyen of financial institutions M&A gives a quick summary of where we are today—an apocalyptic and fascinating time to be an M&A lawyer.

Rob Kindler
Vice chairman of Morgan Stanley and former Cravath partner surprisingly has some optimistic views of the future.

Major Themes for the M&A Market
Top 20 Announced Financial Sponsor Buyouts
Strategics Will Pursue M&A Opportunities
Hostile Bids

Jane Gladstone Wheeler
Of Evercore Partners, identifies the specific reasons behind recent upheavals, and predicts several features of the M&A of the future.

A Conversation with Stephen Schwarzman
Of The Blackstone Group, and an alumnus of the same Lehman class as Dick Fuld himself, sheds a few metaphorical tears as he takes us on his very own tour d'horizon.