For corporate lawyers of a certain age, it seems like the 1980s all over again.

Proxy fights, once the exclusive domain of investors like Carl C. Icahn, are on the rise. The primary cause is easy to spot: “The resurgence of shareholder activism is a direct result of the growth of hedge funds,” said Marc Weingarten, a partner at Schulte Roth & Zabel.

And the re-emergence of proxy fights is a reason that mergers-and-acquisitions lawyers, along with longtime fund-formation lawyers, are redefining the hedge fund practice.

The result is a boon both to law firms that originally advised hedge funds, like Schulte Roth; Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld; and Seward & Kissel, as well as to those with more traditional corporate finance practices, like Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; Sidley Austin; Sullivan & Cromwell; and Willkie Farr & Gallagher, among others.

“In the early days, the legal representation of hedge funds was all about organizational documentation, getting the private placement memo prepared and getting the offering done,” said Kenneth M. Raisler of Sullivan & Cromwell. That business, he said, “didn’t suit” his firm’s lawyers, better known for their mergers-and-acquisitions skills, because it was a “relatively commoditized business with low margins.”

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