The Legal 500

Within Healthcare and life sciences, Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP is a third tier firm,

Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP has a ‘really good regional practice’ centered on Chicago and Milwaukee, with a regulatory practice in Washington DC. Chicago-based Douglas Swill chairs the health law practice group, which has extensive scope encompassing clinical research to manufacturing, as well as acute and long-term care facilities, medical monitoring, managed care organizations and medical staff. The group handles regulatory matters such as compliance and reimbursement, as well as financing, corporate and commercial issues, and day-to-day operational matters.

Within Mutual/registered funds, Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP is a second tier firm,

‘A pleasure to work with’, Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP ‘measures up well with any of the other large law firms in the US that have a mutual fund regulatory practice’. Nine partners provide investment management advice to more than 25 mutual fund families and a broad pool of investment and commodity trading advisers, broker-dealers and insurers. It is a core practice area for the firm, with clients noting that ‘the value proposition is outstanding. It understands the law, it establishes strong personal relationships and its pricing is reasonable’. The group’s ability to work across several sectors and funds markets has placed it in a strong position to take advantage of the growing use of closed-end funds investing in hedge funds and alternative products. For example, it advised on negotiation and implementation of the restructuring of Hatteras Alternative Mutual Fund complex. 2010 saw it pick up new client representations, with FEG Absolute Access Fund appointing the team to advise on its registered fund-of-funds platform. The practice also acted for new client nTrust ETFs on forming a new ETF and represented Northern Funds on negotiations with the SEC to obtain first-of-its-kind relief from the Investment Company Act to permit directors to invest in sub-advisers of multi-manager mutual funds. In Philadelphia, practice head Michael Malloy is highly rated and ‘focuses on the long term’. He and Joshua Deringer ‘have established an excellent level of professional chemistry between themselves and among us’. Both have ‘the ability to explain complex matters in readily understandable terms, and are completely familiar with the legal subject matter applicable to the mutual fund industry’. In addition, Diana McCarthy is ‘an excellent ’40 Act/securities attorney, and is a pleasure to work with. She is very knowledgeable in the field and is usually able to explain concepts in layman’s terms’. Washington DC-based Mark Costley is a broker-dealer expert.

Within M&A: middle-market (sub-$500m), Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP is a second tier firm,

Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP’s ‘response times are superb. It does not care about five o’clock on a Friday, as it does whatever it takes to get the job done. It compares extremely well with the large national firms and with regards to industry knowledge, the practice is able to utilize other specialized lawyers within the firm’. Clients also ‘believe that we receive value for our money’. The firm principally focuses on the representation of mid-size companies. It recently represented Cott Beverage in the $500m acquisition of the largest private manufacturer of juice and related products in North America, making Cott one of the world’s largest manufacturers of carbonated beverages. The team also represented US Development Group, a provider of ethanol terminaling services, in the $195m sale of its ethanol handling and servicing business to Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, and assisted Vertex, a provider of corporate tax solutions, software, and consulting services, in its $2.5m investment in the Series B Offering of Avalara, a provider of sales tax and compliance-software solutions and services. Other matters involved the representation of GeneSeek, the leading commercial agricultural genetics laboratory in the US, in the $21m sale of all of its outstanding shares to Neogen Corporation, a developer, manufacturer and marketer of products dedicated to food and animal safety. Logan Circle Partners, an investment advisor, was represented in its $17m sale to Fortress Investment Group. Chicago-based Kevin Freeman is ‘exceptional as he looks at the issues as a businessperson. He doesn’t over-lawyer and this is critical when trying to run a business. Freeman is also very bright and straightforward. He always gets it done!’ In Philadelphia, Stephen Burdumy is praised for his ‘overall knowledge of contracts and business’. Additionally, Burdumy is ‘an excellent advocate for his clients’. Also in Philadelphia, contracts expert Samuel Mason is rated for his ‘deep experience’. Corporate and securities chair Robert Juelke and Princeton-based John Stoddard are both widely praised. Juelke and Stoddard will ‘personally commit to a transaction rather than letting the work be carried out by senior associates. They are also brilliant attorneys, as well as being exceedingly practical. They know how to focus on the most important issues in order to get the job done’. David Denious joined as a partner in the corporate and securities practice group in Philadelphia from Dechert LLP.