The Legal 500

Within Insurance: advice to insurers, Choate, Hall & Stewart is a second tier firm,

Choate, Hall & Stewart’s insurance practice has grown from its direct coverage work and is now well recognized in the reinsurance space. The firm represents carriers, reinsurers and cedents as well as insurance brokers, and is regularly sought out for ‘matters of the highest complexity and significance’. Co-chair of the insurance and reinsurance group David Attisani is singled out as an ‘extremely effective reinsurance dispute lawyer’, ‘skilful’ and able to ‘provide a responsive service and imaginative advice’. In addition, senior partners are ‘supported by a first-rate team’. Active clients include AIG (now known as Chartis), AXA, Liberty Mutual, Travelers and Swiss Re. Key matters included representation of a major US ceding company in securities-related litigation; a retrocessionaire in international reinsurance arbitration arising out of hurricane losses; and also a US insurer in connection with insolvency proceedings. John Nadas is recommended for his ‘out of the box thinking’, and recently led a team in successfully representing CIGNA in False Claims Act litigation.

Within M&A: middle-market (sub-$500m), Choate, Hall & Stewart is a first tier firm,

Choate, Hall & Stewart is experienced in representing acquirers, targets, financing sources and investment bankers in public and private M&A, both at domestic and international levels. The firm has a strong bench of supporting specialists in corporate, securities, private equity, finance, tax, antitrust, employment, IP, environmental and real estate law. The practice’s range of deals included acting for Airvana’s management in a $535m sale of Airvana Corp to private equity firms led by SAC Capital, advising Zystor Therapeutics in the $115m acquisition by BioMarin Pharmaceutical, and representing Wimba I in the $59.6m acquisition by Blackboard. The firm also advised Riverside Partners in a series of acquisitions and mergers that led to the formation of Alteris Renewables. Healthcare Waste Solutions was assisted in the $245m sale of Healthcare Waste Solutions to Stericycle. Fielding a US-Canada cross-border transactional practice, the team also assisted in the $640m sale of a nursing home operator to a Canadian corporation. Stephen Cohen, William Gelnaw and Robert Jahrling are well-respected attorneys.

Within Private equity buyouts, tier 5

Choate, Hall & Stewart is a relatively small Boston-based firm, but private equity accounts for a major proportion of its revenues. The firm focuses on the middle-market, with a particularly strong record in healthcare and technology deals, but also broader sectors such as media. Key clients include Summit Partners, Avista Capital Partners, Riverside Partners, Spectrum Equity and Windjammer Capital. The firm has completed a number of deals outside of the US, most notably in Canada, where its record is unrivalled. Other transactions in the UK, Ireland, Australia and Mexico, illustrate the sheer breadth of the practice. In June 2010, the firm represented Spectrum Capital and Bain Capital portfolio company iPay Technologies on its $300m sale to Jack Henry & Associates. Later in the year, the firm advised Riverside Partners on its acquisition of Tech Valley Communications. Co-chair of the private equity group Stephen Cohen has a strong profile within the industry, along with fellow co-chair Brian Lenihan and Thomas Murphy.

Within Venture capital and emerging companies, tier 4

Though better known for its private equity work, Choate, Hall & Stewart continues to handle a high-volume of equity financings and growth equity deals for start-ups and growth enterprises. Technology and life sciences are its core sectors, with Stephen Cohen, Brian Lenihan and Thomas Murphy covering mainstream private equity deals, growth equity and classic venture capital financings. In 2010, the firm represented Summit Partners on a series of growth equity investments, including in Apocell, Wildfire Interactive, and Accedian Networks.