The Legal 500

Within Healthcare and life sciences, Arent Fox LLP is a second tier firm,

Although it is primarily known as a Washington DC practice, in fact half of Arent Fox LLP’s 28 healthcare attorneys are based in New York and Los Angeles, giving the firm a good range of coverage. The firm’s managed care clients say the ‘healthcare team possesses incomparable depth of knowledge’. Los Angeles-based practice chair Lowell Brown has worked to broaden the firm’s healthcare coverage beyond its traditional regulatory expertise. In the same office, Thomas Jeffry’s arrival from Davis Wright Tremaine LLP in 2009 significantly deepened expertise in compliance and corporate transactions. The firm represents many health systems, hospitals, hospices, and long-term care facilities, and also handles litigation for manufacturers. The California group handles Medicare and Medicaid issues and staffing matters for St Joseph Health System and advises Kaiser Permanente – an integrated health system spanning 26 hospitals and 3,000 physicians – on regulatory compliance, ethics, and labor litigation. Its Washington DC team continues to represent Fresenius in false claims and related litigation and investigations, and advises Teva North America on compliance and pricing issues. The New York team’s recent work includes advising Dialysis Corporation of America during its $110m acquisition by US Renal Care, a deal creating an entity with 84 dialysis centers nationwide. Clients recommend Connie Raffa and litigator David Wynn as being ‘adept at understanding the scope of the problem, and in designing and revising strategies to address the problems at hand’. Raffa is ‘very knowledgeable on all areas of federal and state laws pertaining to hospices’, and provides ‘superb analysis and sound advice’.

Within Trademarks: non-contentious (full coverage), Arent Fox LLP is a third tier firm,

Arent Fox LLP is a leader in its field when it comes to media and entertainment matters. The team of 30 partners acts for a great breadth of high-profile clients in this area, as well as assisting clients in the life sciences, electronics, consumer products and fashion industries. The talented Anthony Lupo co-chairs the entertainment/IP group from the firm’s head office in Washington DC, and has particular experience in entertainment and gaming matters. The team is primary counsel for a number of household names including Mars, and also assisted in the launch of the Discovery Communications brand in a number of countries. It is also primary entertainment and IP legal counsel for Pixar and The Walt Disney Company, advising on clearance, registration and licensing matters, while other key clients include Apple, Google, LG Electronics, Diesel, Geox, Benetton and Lacoste. The team was also recently retained by Qualcomm.

Within International trade, Arent Fox LLP is a third tier firm,

Trade litigation, export control and customs law are at the heart of Arent Fox LLP’s international trade practice, but the firm is also building significant capability in the anti-corruption and international corporate governance areas. Clients praise ‘extraordinary levels of service and responsiveness’ as well as a ‘solutions-based approach’. Since 2001, the firm has acted for the provincial government of Québec defending against allegations that it is providing standing timber to softwood lumber producers at subsidized prices. The softwood lumber case is the largest, most complex trade case ever filed, involving more than $5bn in annual trade. The underlying dispute over the alleged subsidization of standing timber has been raised, on and off, for more than 100 years. The practice is also acting for several ArcelorMittal Steel subsidiaries in antidumping duty administrative reviews, investigations and sunset reviews. Matthew Nolan heads up the trade group and is highly regarded. Clients praise John Gurley for his ‘business acumen’; Kay Georgi is also recommended.

Within Telecoms and broadcast: transactional, Arent Fox LLP is a third tier firm,

Arent Fox LLP represents smaller carriers and start-ups in negotiations with content providers and disputes with the large telecoms operators and incumbents. Recent cases focused on mobile content and internet access and net neutrality. In Washington DC, Ross Buntrock secured a large win for Great Lakes Corporation in a telecoms dispute with Iowa Utilities Board involving inter-carrier compensation. In a matter concerning free speech on the internet and the ability of mobile phone companies to block text messages due to their content, Mike Hazzard successfully represented low-price text messaging alert service EZ Texting against T-Mobile over the blocking of text messages for a medical marijuana website. Alan Fishel and Jeffrey Rummel helped to obtain more than $160m in grants to enable Internet2 and University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences to develop next-generation broadband services. Other clients include Hypercube Telecom, Infrasource, Mobile Marketing Association and Securus Technologies.

Within M&A: middle-market (sub-$500m), tier 4

For some clients, Arent Fox LLP’s ‘level of business acumen and industry knowledge is second to none, and this has made it a go-to firm. The quality of the advice takes into account practical limitations and is always delivered in a user-friendly format that allows me to share it with my management team with the confidence that it will be exactly what we were looking for when we sought the advice. This is very high praise, but it is well-deserved.’ The practice has built a large and comprehensive corporate practice in the Washington DC area, with a client base that ranges from mid-market private businesses to Fortune 500 companies. The team is well versed in transactions with regional, national and international scope. In addition, the firm has developed a strong reputation in several industry sectors including technology, manufacturing, sports and entertainment, leisure and hospitality, healthcare and government contracts. Recent highlights include representing RLJ on the sale of a controlling stake in the Charlotte Bobcats NBA basketball team to Michael Jordan’s company, MJ Basketball Holdings, a deal that valued the Bobcats at $275m. The practice also acted for Globe on its $52m cash acquisition of Core Metals Group, one of North America’s largest producers and marketers of high-purity ferrosilicon and other specialty steel ingredients, and advised WSI on its approximately $55m acquisition of Champions of the West, a facilities management and base operations support company providing services to the US Government. Washington DC-based Jay Halpern heads the corporate practice. Also in Washington DC, Jeffrey Jordan, Richard Gale and Carter Strong are recommended. Clients find the firm to be ‘prompt and thorough on all matters it deals with’, singling out Gale as performing ‘an outstanding job. He is always available and very knowledgeable. I would recommend him to anyone’.

Within Construction (including construction litigation), tier 4

Arent Fox LLP’s construction group consists of 12 lawyers nationally, with the core practice in New York. The firm handles project documentation, litigation and contract administration, delivering ‘on-the-mark advice’ to a variety of clients including owners, developers and contractors. Clients assess the overall level of service as ‘outstanding’, and the lawyers’ industry knowledge as ‘superior to many legal practices’. The firm was selected by the New York Yankees to handle the construction contracts and supply agreements for the new Yankee Stadium; recent work on the $2bn project includes drafting and negotiating contracts, assisting on developing the contractor-controlled insurance program, and advising on claim issues. Eugene Scheiman and James Frankel co-chair the New York construction team. Scheiman is valued for his ‘practical and responsive’ service in litigation, ADR and business advisory services, while Frankel is recognized for his advice on front-end project structuring, transactional documentation, risk transfer and dispute resolution among other construction-related issues; he is recommended for his ‘in-depth knowledge and expertise’, and is ‘more than a lawyer, he is a trusted adviser’.

Within Real estate, Arent Fox LLP is a third tier firm,

Arent Fox LLP’s 35-partner real estate group is based in Washington DC and New York. Clients regard the team as ‘superlative, highly professional and extremely good value for money’, as well as ‘responsive and very knowledgeable about the myriad of issues facing a real estate developer’. Keith Styles and Kimberly Wachen co-chair the Washington DC team, while David Dubrow and the ‘pragmatic, diligent and tenacious’ Jacqueline Weiss share the lead in New York. Mark Katz continues to represent Goldman Sachs in various real estate transactions including acquisitions, development and dispositions of commercial single assets and portfolios, and on the workout and restructuring of sub-performing and non-performing loans. One particular deal involved the recapitalization of a six-asset, multi-family portfolio located in four states and valued at $246m. The team has niche expertise regarding sports arenas, and David Osnos and Richard Brand continue to represent the Pollin family, owner of the Washington Wizards NBA franchise and a client of the firm for over 50 years, on all real estate matters. The firm recently represented the family on selling its majority interest in Washington Sports & Entertainment Limited Partnership to Lincoln Holdings. The firm’s strength in the leisure and hospitality field saw Wachen and Joseph Fries called on to represent Marriott International on several developments, financing and joint venture related deals around the US. Gerard Leval represented RLJ Development, a major hotel and real estate developer, on approximately 150 transactions totaling $3bn including multiple hotel acquisitions and financing. Drawing upon the team’s experience in the senior living and long-term care sector, the team represented Sunrise Senior Living – a longstanding client – on the $204m sale of 21 assisted living communities in 11 states to an affiliate of Brookdale Senior Living. The New York-based team recently advised Fannie Mae on its participation in the Obama administration’s $25bn plan to stabilize the US housing market.

Within Employee benefits and executive compensation, tier 5

Arent Fox LLP’s Washington DC benefits practice is biased towards ERISA matters in the widest sense. The firm has a reputation for fixing problem plans, as well as being competent in complex advisory areas, including advice to pension plan trustees looking to expand investment portfolios into areas such as real estate. The small group provides ‘an overall level of service which is top-notch’ and ‘reasonably priced’, to a clientele of mid-tier corporations, non-profit institutions, pensions funds and individuals. Recommended lawyers include practice chair William Charyk, who has ‘in-depth knowledge of ERISA and provides high quality advice, guidance, and written documents within a very responsive timeframe’, and Quana Jew, who is ‘particularly excellent and extremely client-focused’. Clients include Carl Zeiss, Choice Hotels International, K-Sea Transportation and AARP.