Valerie Ford Jacob > Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP > New York, United States > Lawyer Profile
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP Offices
601 LEXINGTON AVENUE
31ST FLOOR
NEW YORK, NY 10022
NEW YORK
United States
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Valerie Ford Jacob
Position
Partner
Career
Valerie is co-head of our global capital markets practice.
Valerie focuses on capital raising, including both debt and equity in the public and private markets, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and other business transactions. She also counsels corporations and special committees on corporate governance, securities regulation and investigations.
Valerie is also a co-head of our global financial institutions sector group. She is a frequent contributor to legal and other periodicals on securities laws and financing topics. She is consistently recognized as a leading lawyer by Chambers Global, Chambers USA, IFLR1000, Legal 500 and Best Lawyers.
Valerie has been described by clients as “a legend in the business.” She was named Finance Lawyer of the Year at Chambers USA’s 2012 Women in Law Awards. Valerie co-led the Freshfields team that was honored as Transatlantic Private Equity Team of the Year by Legal Week and The American Lawyer for its cross-border work advising Formula One (F1) and CVC Capital Partners on the sale of F1 to Liberty Media. She was named to the Law Dragon 500 Hall of Fame in 2017. She was also honored as a Woman Worth Watching in the 2016 issue of Profiles in Diversity Journal and the 2017 Expert Guide to Women in Business Law, a peer-ranked list of female experts in various divisions of business law. In 2020 and again in 2021, she was listed as one of the top Capital Markets practitioners in the United States by Euromoney’s Women in Business Expert Guide. She was awarded a “Lifetime Achievement Award” in 2021 by Corporate Counsel – Women, Influence & Power in Law, and “A Dealmaker of the Year” in 2022 by The American Lawyer. She was shortlisted as “Equity Capital Markets Lawyer of the Year” by Euromoney’s Americas Women in Business Law Awards, 2022.
She also is a member of The Committee of 200 (C200), an invitation-only membership organization of the world’s most successful women business leaders.
Education
- JD, Cornell Law School
- BS, Boston University
Lawyer Rankings
United States > Finance > Capital markets: debt offerings
(Hall of Fame)Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP has a fine record in bulge-bracket bond offerings. It continues to make an impression in convertible debt and green bond offerings, and boasts a prominent team in New York and Silicon Valley. Well-known for investment grade offerings, it is gaining ground in high-yield debt. It has an exceptional issuer client base, but also gains many engagements from underwriters. The exceptionally experienced Valerie Ford Jacob
is global co-head of the capital markets team and consistently advises issuers and underwriters on high-value offerings. In Silicon Valley, Sarah Solum is head of US capital markets and has an excellent record with tech businesses, including advising Oracle on its $7bn SEC-registered offering of senior notes. Michael Levitt is also noted for convertible debt offerings and Silicon Valley/New York partner Pamela Marcogliese for green bonds, among other capital markets offerings and corporate governance engagements.
United States > Finance > Capital markets: equity offerings
(Hall of Fame)Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP has a women-led and women-dominated capital markets group. It continues to make a strong impression on both sides of the Atlantic and is noted for its connections to start-ups right through to established public companies. It has a particularly strong record with issuers, though has strong relationships with all the major underwriters. In addition, through Silicon Valley partner Pamela Marcogliese the team has extensive expertise in corporate governance and has made an impression in the creation of public benefit corporations. It has continued to be prominent in SPAC IPOs and de-SPAC transactions. New York’s Valerie Ford Jacob is co-head of the global capital markets group and remains active in large-cap and mid-cap equity offerings. In Silicon Valley, Sarah Solum remains a prominent practitioner in tech and SPAC deals. New York partner Michael Levitt is another key member of the group, including in SPAC deals.
Lawyer Rankings
- Hall of Fame United States > Finance > Capital markets: equity offerings
- Hall of Fame United States > Finance > Capital markets: debt offerings
- Capital markets: debt offerings United States > Finance
- Capital markets: equity offerings United States > Finance
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Corporate governance
- Dispute resolution > International arbitration
- Tax > International tax
- Tax > Financial products
- Healthcare > Life sciences
- Tax > Financial products
Firm Rankings
- Tax > Financial products
- Dispute resolution > International litigation
- Dispute resolution > M&A litigation: defense
- Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
- Finance > Capital markets: debt offerings
- Finance > Capital markets: equity offerings
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: transactional
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: large deals ($1bn+)
- Antitrust > Merger control
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Shareholder activism
- Tax > US taxes: non-contentious
- Finance > Commercial lending
- Antitrust > Civil litigation/class actions: defense
- Media, technology and telecoms > Cyber law (including data privacy and data protection)
- Dispute resolution > General commercial disputes
- International Trade > Customs, export controls and economic sanctions
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
- Transport > Aviation and air travel: litigation and regulation