The Legal 500

Within Project finance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP is a third tier firm,

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP’s ‘very strong’ five-partner team is based in New York and has a very fine reputation in infrastructure transactions; the firm has gained a great deal of traction in areas such as transport, parking assets and PPP since the project finance practice’s inception in the US in 2006. Public authorities are a key client base for the team, and it also acts for a good mix of clients on both the lender and sponsor side, having historically been more geared to the sponsor side. A key client over 2010 was the Regional Transportation District of Denver, which the firm advised on the successful procurement of the $2.1bn Eagle commuter rail public-private partnership, the largest US PPP transit project to date; the key partners on the deal were the highly respected Dolly Mirchandani and Kent Rowey. The firm is advising on the planned multibillion-dollar PPP Tampa to Orlando high-speed rail line, which is envisaged to eventually reach Miami. In other areas, it acted for ArcLight Capital Partners on the €100m financing and the ongoing sale of a wind farm in Germany (led by Thomas Jörgens); and also on the acquisition of a portfolio of assets from EIF, consisting of four generation assets and an interest in the Neptune Regional Transmission System, financed with bank debt arranged by Barclays Capital and Bank of America. The team attracts consistent praise from clients, with other notable individuals including Melissa Raciti-Knapp and Lisa O’Brien, who is ‘very solid all round’. Former New York partner Charles Robinson left the team to return to his native Australia.

Within Structured finance , Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP is a second tier firm,

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP’s ‘response time is top-notch and the firm has high levels of expertise in the prime brokerage derivative financing space’. The New York-located US practice group comprises four partners, of whom one, Perry Sayles, is based in London. In recent instructions, group head Brian Rance, who ‘adds value in complex and risky situations’, acted for Citigroup Global Markets on the COA Tempus CLO – a $500m cash flow CLO secured primarily by senior secured bank loans: the existing CLO and two warehouse vehicles merged into the new vehicle in a four-party statutory merger under Cayman Islands law. Ellen Hayes, ‘very helpful on client negotiations, where she is quick and determined but simultaneously non-antagonistic’, led the team advising a major investment bank in connection with an investment in a complex multi-jurisdictional, multi-tiered limited partnership holding a portfolio over $1bn US equities. Also highly recommended, Jerome Ranawake has ‘a detailed technical understanding of the lending business and is effective negotiating with clients’. Clients of the practice group include Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Kylin Management and UBS.

Within International arbitration, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP is a first tier firm,

‘First-class’ and ‘top of the range’, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP has a large dedicated international arbitration team with extensive experience in investor state work, large commercial disputes and public international law. The practice’s clients include the Government of Canada, the Government of Guatemala, National Grid, Pan American Energy and BG Group. The ‘large, hard-working team’ appears regularly before the world’s major tribunals. The practice is acting for the Government of Romania on the defense of a $500m claim commenced by multiple claimants under the Sweden/ Romania BIT, arising out of changes in Romania’s fiscal regime brought about by its accession to the European Union. It is also representing the Turkish state in a $11bn ICSID claim brought under the Energy Charter Treaty by a Cypriot company alleging the expropriation of an investment it claims to have made in the power sector in Turkey. On the investor side, the firm is acting for ConocoPhillips Company and several Dutch subsidiaries in an ICSID arbitration against Venezuela in connection with the expropriation of three major oil investments collectively worth in excess of $30bn. It is also active in several large construction disputes. Nigel Blackaby heads up the US international arbitration group and is highly regarded by clients. Lucy Reed ‘has a rare ability to spot the important trees in the forest and leads by example’, while Brian King is ‘organized, efficient, and strategic with an uncanny ability to bring out the most important factual and legal details for any case’. Alex Yanos displays ‘great attention to detail and fidelity to the client’s interests’.

Within White-collar criminal defense , tier 8

Based out of New York, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP’s white-collar group provides ‘excellent, responsive and business-orientated advice’ across the waterfront of issues, from securities fraud matters to criminal antitrust violations. A relative newcomer to the market, the firm has successfully been able to leverage off its impressive roster of institutional clients and has picked up a number of high-profile engagements, particularly in the financial services and pharmaceutical sectors. Benefiting from an impressive international network that includes offices in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, Adam Siegel heads the firm’s global investigations group which is particularly active in relation to FCPA abuses and criminal antitrust matters. The team is regularly part of a multi-jurisdiction effort, as highlighted by its involvement with the London office on behalf of a major UK accounting firm in parallel US and UK regulatory investigations regarding its audit work for a leading investment bank. Other highlights included advising a domestic financial institution in regulatory investigations regarding the allegedly widespread use of improper documentation in processing home foreclosures. Aaron Marcu, Benito Romano ‘solid US perspective’ and Timothy Coleman are all well regarded.

Within Antitrust, tier 5

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP is ‘excellent in terms of response time, expertise and practical advice’. Although still relatively new on the US scene, the firm has a broad practice and a wealth of experience including the ‘excellent’ Bob Schlossberg and practice head Paul Yde, both based in Washington DC. The firm continued to expand its US presence by hiring Marshall Fishman and Walter Stuart in New York, both with particular experience of acting for financial institutions in litigation matters; and Tim Coleman in Washington DC, who was previously a senior official at the DOJ. The firm’s strong corporate offerings in New York and London, as well as highly regarded competition teams in several other offices worldwide, ensures that the US antitrust team remains well placed to deal with large, cross-border transactions and multi-jurisdictional cartel actions. The team has seen an increase in requests to advise on major bribery issues and work relating to foreign investments. The team has defended clients in many second request merger reviews including advising Continental Airlines on its $3.2bn merger with United Airlines, where the team successfully pre-empted a possible challenge to the merger by designing an innovative, slot-lease solution, and also successfully negotiated an expedited conclusion of the multi-state investigation. The ‘commercially minded’ and ‘extremely responsive’ Bruce McCulloch was also part of a team advising Saint-Gobain before the FTC regarding the sale of its Advanced Ceramics business to CoorsTek. Other major clients include Emirates, Bank of America and Johnson & Johnson.

Within M&A: middle-market ($500m-999m), Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP is a third tier firm,

Fielding four partners in New York, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP has built its US offering to support multinational clients on multi-jurisdictional mandates. The mainstay of the US corporate practice is large-scale New York law-governed M&A deals, usually for non-US clients. Clients find the team to be ‘readily available and to respond quickly when required’. Others appreciate the presence of both English and US-qualified lawyers, ‘whose combined experience means they are excellent at bridging the gap in legal culture between Europe and the US’. Recent work included advising the owners of the Invatec Group in the sale of Invatec to Medtronic for up to $500m; acting for Geely, one of China’s biggest privately owned auto makers, on its landmark acquisition of Volvo Car Corporation and related assets from Ford for $1.8bn; assisting Sportech in connection with its $83m of Scientific Games Racing, the racing and venue management divisions of Scientific Games Corporation; and representing the private equity owners of Cognis, a German producer of food and cosmetics ingredients, in the $3.8bn sale of Cognis to BASF. The practice also has a good track record of successful merger reviews and other antitrust investigations. Matthew Herman heads the US M&A practice. ‘Herman is extremely fast at understanding the parameters of a deal and the mindset and needs of the parties. He is able to implement very practical solutions that help the parties get out of blocking situations, and is also an outstanding negotiator, which is always a key element on M&A deals’. Matthew Jacobson, Julian Pritchard and Timothy Wilkins are also key contacts who regularly draw praise from clients. Pritchard is ‘particularly impressive when subjected to significant provocation from the other side. He remains calm and sticks to our position throughout’.

Within Financial products, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP is a second tier firm,

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP’s Robert Scarborough, ‘a quality tax adviser, very technically adept, which you don’t always get with more senior lawyers’, provided tax advice to the German Financial Markets Stabilisation Fund Sonderfonds Finanzmarktstabilisierung on restructuring of Hypo Real Estate’s US operations in connection with the creation of a “bad bank” for distressed assets. Practice clients include ING.

Within International, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP is a second tier firm,

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP’s US tax practice team is ‘quite thin, with only three partners; despite this, the quality of advice is great, comparable or better than that of much larger firms’. Gregory May, based in Washington DC, heads the lightly leveraged group. Recommended lawyers in New York include Robert Scarborough, whose ‘grasp of the business issues bolsters his ability to deliver accurate and reliable tax advice extremely efficiently’, and counsel Eschi Rahimi-Laridjani, who is ‘an excellent and precise young tax lawyer’. Washington DC-based Claude Stansbury, who provides ‘clear guidance, and timely responses’, advised ConocoPhillips on its $30bn arbitration following Venezuela’s expropriation of two Orinoco heavy crude oil projects, including a novel claim for consequential US tax damages. Clients advised on cross-border matters include ArcLight, ConocoPhillips and British Columbia Investment Management.