The Legal 500

Within Corporate restructuring, tier 4

Based out of the firm’s Chicago headquarters but also benefitting from a growing New York offering, Jenner & Block LLP’s ‘exceptional’ team handles all facets of restructuring for both creditors and debtors including distressed M&A, debt-for-equity exchanges and insolvency-related litigation. Acclaimed for its ability to provide ‘creative and practical solutions’ and maximize value for the client, this was recently underscored by the team’s successful contested representation of Inland American Real Estate Investment Trust and LIP Holdings in the Lauth Investment Properties Chapter 11 cases. Co-chair of the firm’s bankruptcy litigation practice, Catherine Steege led on this matter and receives fulsome praise for her ‘knowledge of the rules, speed on her feet and aggression when needed’. Indeed, bankruptcy litigation accounts for a significant proportion of the work handled by the wider restructuring group. Other highlights included representing Magnatrax Litigation Trust in connection with fraudulent transfer litigation against Onex, and the team’s high-profile involvement on an investigation of the events that resulted in the commencement of Lehman Brothers’ Chapter 11. ‘Cool under pressure, intimately familiar with the situation and very helpful’, Vincent Lazar is regularly involved in the highest-profile mandates handled by the firm, including the work for the Examiner of Lehman, as well as an ongoing representation of a Chapter 11 trustee of Sentinel Management Group in its $1bn investment adviser fraud case.

Within Insurance: advice to policyholders, Jenner & Block LLP is a third tier firm,

Jenner & Block LLP enters the ranking in recognition of its established reputation in policyholder representation. John Mathias chairs the insurance litigation and counseling practice, part of the firm’s 350-strong wider national litigation team. Clients note the firm’s ‘excellent’ and ‘high-quality’ service; it ‘provides real benefit’. The firm has national reach with offices in Chicago, New York, Washington DC and Los Angeles, the latter strengthened by the addition of key player Jerold Oshinsky in 2009, and more recently Mary Craig Calkins from Howrey LLP, who is noted as ‘consistently beating expectations’ and having ‘an outstanding reputation in the field’. The firm is representing third party defendant Fiserv Solutions (a provider of technology solutions) in a claim brought by First American Title Insurance in connection with Bank of America’s $550m action for losses incurred from defaulted home equity loans; and is also acting for HSBC in a $20m D&O coverage case against Princeton Eagle, arising from securities fraud claims. Washington DC-based Lorelie Masters is involved in the representation of Guardian Building Products Distribution in its action against ACE, in which the Guardian Industries subsidiary is seeking coverage under general liability insurance for an uncertain number of potential Chinese drywall claims. The practice has also seen an increase in life insurance related matters, such as representing the defendants in American General Life Insurance Company v Sussex, in the District of New Jersey (an action for rescission of a $10m life insurance policy, alleging fraud and lack of an insurable interest). Other recognized names at the firm are Matthew Jacobs and Christopher Dickinson.

Within Copyright, Jenner & Block LLP is a first tier firm,

Jenner & Block LLP has strong expertise in complex litigation, as well as transactional support in relation to both new media and traditional entertainment and copyright issues. The team is led from Washington DC and includes co-chairs Steven Fabrizio, who has a strong reputation for advising on high-stakes content protection and hi-tech copyright issues, and Andrew Bart in New York, an experienced trial lawyer with a particular focus on entertainment sector clients, particularly recording companies. Steven Englund also specialises in content rights issues relating to the digital world. Other notable attorneys include Gianni Servodidio and Susan Kohlmann, while former partners Thomas Perrelli and Donald Verrilli were appointed to the Obama Administration in 2009. Viacom remains a major client, and its ongoing lawsuit against YouTube and Google remains a key highlight. The court ruled in favour of the defendants in the $1bn copyright infringement case, with the client having appealed and the appeal pending. The firm is also known for representing major recording companies, including EMI, which it is advising in the ongoing Capitol Records v MP3tunes case. The practice successfully represented a group of US recording companies, including Arista Records, in an infringement case against Usenet.com, and achieved a victory for Universal Music Group in a traditional copyright case brought by the family of Bob Marley, which sought damages relating to music rights and licensing for ringtones. The team also handles literary rights matters, including representing the heirs of Elaine Steinbeck (widow of author John Steinbeck) at a Second Circuit appeal, which affirmed a previous ruling and retained the client’s rights to the author’s works, ending a long-running dispute. Additional key clients include all major motion picture studios and video games companies in the United States.

Within Supreme Court and appellate, Jenner & Block LLP is a third tier firm,

Jenner & Block LLP’s practice is very well respected, with clients praising a team that ‘operates at the highest professional level and gets results’. Despite the 2009 departure of former group head Donald Verrilli to become Associate US Deputy Attorney General (currently the presidential nominee for the post of US Solicitor General), the practice remains active on leading cases. Now under the guidance of the experienced Paul Smith, in the US Supreme Court’s 2010 term the practice represented the respondents in Schwarzenegger v Entertainment Merchants Association, an important First Amendment case relating to the sale of violent video games to minors. It also acted for General Dynamics in General Dynamics v US, a case consolidated with Boeing Co v US, considering the issue of whether the government has the right to litigate claims against clients denied defense on grounds of state-secrets privilege. In the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Susan Kohlmann led a team in successfully defending the Estate of Elaine Steinbeck, widow of the author John Steinbeck, against challenges made by his surviving son (of an earlier marriage) and a granddaughter, for the IP rights to his works.

Within Trade secrets, tier 4

‘Top drawer’ Chicago-based Jenner & Block LLP provides satisfied clients with counseling on employment-related trade secret issues and drafting of documentation to secure proprietary information. The firm has taken action in relation to theft of trade secrets by third parties and conducted litigation in claims relating to software, source code and proprietary information. The ‘tireless’ Debbie Berman is a key name here, having participated in the seminal case on the doctrine of ‘inevitable disclosure’, Pepsico v Redmond.

Within Telecoms and broadcast: regulatory, Jenner & Block LLP is a third tier firm,

Jenner & Block LLP’s combination of leading litigation and appellate attorneys with a top FCC practice enables it to provide comprehensive solutions including compliance and trial representations. The nine-partner group, led by former FCC general counsel Samuel Feder in Washington DC and litigator John Harrington in Chicago, is recognized as ‘responsive and knowledgeable regarding federal and state regulatory matters’. Feder, who wins praise for ‘listening well to clients’ goals and objectives’ and for his ‘strong writing and verbal advocacy skills’, acted as lead counsel for Cablevision on the FCC’s broadband reclassification proceeding concerning whether to change the framework for regulating broadband internet access, and assisted Comcast in securing FCC approval of the Comcast-NBCU transaction. Harrington and his team successfully represented longstanding client Neutral Tandem in a series of regulatory disputes and federal litigation matters. In 2010, the team handled significant content-related communications work for the firm’s music industry and media clients, notably representing the Recording Industry Association of America in the FCC’s net neutrality proceeding and is commended for providing ‘superb, top notch legal analysis’. Other clients include Sprint, Sorenson Communications and several industry associations.

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

Jenner & Block LLP has ‘a world-class M&A and corporate practice with deep experience and outstanding client service. The firm’s value-added service builds on understanding the needs of its clients at a deep level and providing timely and insightful advice’. Clients recognize that although the corporate group is not as large as that of many of its peers among major Wall Street firms, ‘it does not aspire to be the biggest. Nonetheless, the corporate practice is second-to-none in terms of quality, experience and client service, and has substantially achieved its longstanding goal of being the equal of its renowned litigation practice’. The growth of the corporate practice in recent years has been led by the recruitment of several lateral partners, who bring significant experience from other law firms and from senior positions at major corporations and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Representative experience includes advising RCN Corporation in connection with its 2010 sale to ABRY Partners for $1.2bn, acting for Guggenheim Partners in connection with the formation of e5 Global Media LLC and the acquisition by e5 Global Media of eight brands from The Nielsen Company, including The Hollywood Reporter. The firm also assisted General Motors Company in the sale of substantially all of its assets to a newly formed entity sponsored by the US Treasury in connection with GM’s voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code. This 2009 transaction was among the largest industrial bankruptcies in US history. Other highlights included representing KPS Capital Partners in its formation of North American Breweries, a national platform for investments and growth in the beer and malt beverage industries, and the first three transactions completed thereunder: the acquisition of Labatt USA from Interbrew International, a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev; the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of High Falls Brewing Company, one of the largest independent breweries in the United States; and the acquisition of a perpetual license for the Seagram’s Cooler Escapes and Seagram’s Smooth brands from Pernod Ricard USA. The ‘pragmatic and thoughtful’ corporate chair Joseph Gromacki is ‘a consummate professional. He has vast experience in complex M&A matters and is truly dedicated to the needs of the firm’s clients’. Gromacki is also ‘zealous about driving the best outcome possible and is a great leader of the expert teams that he assembles’. Thaddeus Malik and Jill Sheiman left for Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP’s Chicago M&A group.

Within Construction (including construction litigation), tier 5

The construction practice at Jenner & Block LLP brings together lawyers in the firm’s national litigation department, across Chicago, New York, Washington DC and Los Angeles. The bulk of the firm’s construction work comes from the Midwest area, particularly Chicago, where it handles mechanics’ lien claims and construction defect cases as well as providing advice on non-contentious issues such as contract bidding and negotiation. Recent work includes acting for the University of Illinois in several multimillion-dollar lawsuits, settled favorably in 2010; the cases involved claims for construction and design defects in two student residence buildings, and for installation of defective concrete in a University multi-level conference center. Practice head Joseph Bisceglia is praised for his ‘exceptional in-depth knowledge of the construction industry and many years of experience’.

Within Domestic tax: Central, Jenner & Block LLP is a third tier firm,

Jenner & Block LLP fields a four-partner, three-associate tax group which ‘always provides timely responses and quality advice, both of which are necessities when working on deals’ and ‘can give big deal advice without overstaffing the team’. Steve Meier, who ‘cuts through contention to achieve a compromised position which helps the deal move along’, acted as lead tax counsel to RCN Corporation when it was acquired by an investment fund managed by ABRY Partners for total consideration of approximately $1.2bn, including the assumption of debt. Christian Kimball and Geoffrey Davis acted as tax counsel to General Motors in connection with its initial public offering in 2010 when the US Treasury sought to divest majority. The firm has provided tax assistance to General Dynamics, Computershare, Promark Global Advisors and Brown Jordan International. All named lawyers are based in the Chicago office.