The Legal 500

Within Structured finance: derivatives and structured products: National,

Linklaters

PRACTICE: Linklaters’s structured finance and derivatives practice resides firmly at the premium end of the market. The firm invests heavily in training and lawyer retention and has created a highly effective four-partner team ‘which responds promptly with accurate, practical advice’. Linklaters looks well placed for the recession, adequately staffed at both senior and associate levels and capable of handling the rising flow of non-performing and under-performing SIVs, CDOs and monolines which require restructuring and workouts.

Examples of recent complex and cutting-edge instructions include advice to a major investment bank in connection with the establishment of a joint venture for the purchase of CO2 offsets. The World Bank instructed Linklaters to advise on US regulatory aspects of its potential role as Interim Trustee of the Adaptation Fund established under the Kyoto Climate Change Protocol to finance projects and programs.

Linklaters’ clients note that ‘the global reach of the firm gives a significant advantage in the derivatives area’.

CLIENTS: Linklaters acts for SocGen, WestLB, Merrill Lynch, Citibank, Deutsche Bank, RBS Greenwich, BNP Paribas and TCW Asset Management.

INDIVIDUALS: A trio of New York partners is consistently recommended. Gary Barnett boasts vast experience across the practice area, including a good deal of challenging work with distressed assets; he has advised the American Securitisation Forum on the management of CDOs. Adam Glass is an expert on the securities law aspects of derivatives and synthetic products and has recently been a leader in the debate about the regulatory status of credit default swaps. Stan Renas is expert in structured commodity products such as bullion and carbon credits, which almost invariably carry multi-jurisdictional considerations.

Within Alternative/hedge funds: National,

Linklaters

PRACTICE: Linklaters is a young practice that has grown consistently and impressively - representative feedback from clients rates the group ‘very good’, ‘superb’ or ‘top-end’ - since Scott Bowie arrived from Latham & Watkins LLP in 2005 to create the group. At the end of 2006 Stephen Culhane joined from King & Spalding, and in April 2008 the team added a third dedicated partner with the promotion of Lorna Bowen. Nine full-time associates support the practice leaders, while three other US partners spend significant time on fund-related matters. The practice is also able to call on the full extent of this international law firm’s large investment management practice and non-US offices in order to provide the proverbial ‘one-stop-shop’.

The practice provides ‘the best perspective on the industry that I have seen’, according to one client, in representing an array of hedge funds and hedge fund managers.

Among recent highlight matters, Linklaters was responsible for the formation of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts’ KKR Master Index Fund, a hybrid vehicle designed to allow investors access to a private-equity style investments via principal protected notes. The firm has also been involved in raising several special-situations funds to take advantage of market turmoil.

CLIENTS: Other representations include Harbert Management, LIM Advisors and other matters for KKR.

INDIVIDUALS: Practice founder Scott Bowie in New York is ‘very accommodating’ and ‘extremely adept in both US and international investment matters’. Also in New York, Stephen Culhane is ‘highly skilled, very professional and very good’ and ‘one of the brightest, most careful and knowledgeable lawyers I have met’.

Within Private equity funds: National,

Linklaters

PRACTICE: UK-based international law firm Linklaters has edged its way into the consciousness of US private equity players and its three-partner New York practice now offers convincing capacity. Founded by Scott Bowie in 2005, after his lateral move from Latham & Watkins LLP, the group bolted on additional capacity with the hire of the impressive Stephen Culhane from King & Spalding in early 2007 and then promoted Lorna Bowen to partner in April 2008. Nine associates support the partners.

This small but ‘highly skilled’ team focuses almost exclusively on sophisticated high-cap funds, generally in the billions of dollars - although the current financial climate may reduce the sums being raised - and so the group is not a natural destination for smaller middle-market funds. Clients say the service is ‘extremely thorough, but it’s very expensive’. This ‘very professional’ group acts both on behalf of major sponsors and institutional investors, and the attorneys are ‘very good at what they do’. The group’s small size also limits activities to its established clients plus a select few new additions.

Linklaters is currently busy working on large European-focused buyout funds and real estate opportunity matters. Numerous engagements are confidential, but publishable recent highlights include the creation and capital raising for the $2.5bn Hopu USD Master Fund I, Hopu Investment Management’s China-focused investment fund.

CLIENTS: Publishable clients include BC Partners, Carlyle, Harbert, ING Clarion, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR), LaSalle Investment Management, LIM Advisors, Perella Weinberg Partners and UBS.

INDIVIDUALS: Practice leader Scott Bowie ‘does a good job’. He is based in New York and has long represented KKR. Stephen Culhane, also in New York, is considered to be a bit of a star. Clients opine that ‘his level of market knowledge is really strong’ and he is ‘probably the best attorney in the funds management business’. He is a former Goldman Sachs lawyer and expert in a variety of fund formats.

Within International firms: National,

Linklaters

PRACTICE: Linklaters’ New York tax practice is a modest one, fielding one partner and six associates, but even after a reduction in the ranks through retirement and defection, in international tax, the size of the team belies the expertise. The practice attracts blue-chip instructions, particularly working closely with other offices in the worldwide network, particularly London. The main strengths of the practice are in corporate finance particularly public international debt and equity offerings.

Recent instructions include the representation of Merrill Lynch in the sale of its subsidiary Indian asset management company to BlackRock, and advising China Railway Group, the world’s third-largest construction contractor, as issuer on its $5.5bn initial public offering.

CLIENTS: Clients include AstraZeneca, JPMorgan Chase, Royal Bank of Canada, Credit Suisse, UBS, Qwest, Visa Europe and CVC Capital Partners.

INDIVIDUALS: Based in New York, Stephen Land is ‘very cerebral, but commercial and constructive too’. Francisco Duque specializes in international work and includes structured products and derivatives advice within his practice.