The Legal 500

Within Commercial contracts, tier 4

At Jones Day, Jonathon Little and Julian Runnicles both focus on commercial work, and can draw on resources in the firm’s corporate, HR, pensions, tax and regulatory practices as necessary. Despite its relatively small size, the practice has a solid presence in the commercial sphere, with notable cross-border capability; highlights for 2010 included advising ETS Europe on international representation agreements for the delivery of its TOEFL test, and advising Goodrich Corporation in connection with its joint venture with Rolls-Royce.

Within Corporate tax Corporate tax

Within Equity capital markets: US capability, tier 5

Ashurst LLP’s US practice suffered a blow in March 2011, when Daniel Bushner, Eric Stuart and Marie Elena Angulo, left the firm. It has since recruited Ray Fisher, former head of the capital markets group at Linklaters New York, and Jennifer Schneck, who left Linklaters LLP in London in 2009. Both joined the firm in May 2011.

Within EU and competition , tier 4

Jones Day acts in many significant and high-profile litigation matters before the High Court, the CAT and the European courts. Notable recent work includes advising AstraZeneca plc in its appeal before the ECJ regarding fines imposed by the Commission for abuse of a dominant position. Merger work also features strongly, with the group able to draw on the firm’s excellent global M&A practice; highlights in 2010 included advising Procter & Gamble in its €320m purchase of Sara Lee’s Ambi Pur business. The team also has a strong track record in UK sector investigations. Practice head Frances Murphy is ‘very smart and cool headed’, and ‘a very good person to turn to in a crisis’.

Within Financial services, tier 6

Jones Day recently submitted and negotiated various non-standard controllership and other applications to the FSA; Tim Flood is a key contact. Michael Brown is experienced in advising financial institutions on contentious matters relating to financial structures and products, and bribery and corruption.

Within Flotations: small and mid-cap, Jones Day is a third tier firm,

Giles Elliott leads the capital markets team at Jones Day. The group acts for banks including JP Morgan Cazenove and Jefferies & Co, as well as a number of issuer clients.

Within M&A: upper mid-market and premium deals, 250m+, tier 7

Jones Day’s team is ‘very dedicated, always on time, and high quality’. The highly regarded Giles Elliott stepped up to become head of the M&A practice, with the incumbent John Phillips taking over as office chief when Russell Carmedy left for Proskauer Rose LLP. The practice acted on a total of 33 deals over the course of the year, including advising ENRC on its $300m acquisition of Enya Holding, and acting for regular client London & Stamford Investments on the £208.5m buyout of the share capital of Radial Distribution. The team includes the ‘proactive and hands-on’ Leon Ferera.

Within M&A: US law capability,

Ashurst LLP’s US capability took a knock in 2010 with the departure of Daniel Bushner and Marie Elena Angulo to Jones Day. The firm moved quickly to bring in the highly regarded Ray Fisher and Jennifer Schneck, both formerly at Linklaters LLP.

Within Overview,

On the private equity side, the market had its busiest year since 2007 globally, totalling $235.5bn worth of deals, up 92.5% compared to 2009 ($122.3bn), representing 11.1% of global M&A compared to 7.2% in 2009. Activity has been driven as much by houses regaining their appetite for significant investment as looking to exit via secondary buyouts. In the City, US firms are finally building credible alternatives to the UK firms. Although the likes of Clifford Chance remain at the top of the market, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, Latham & Watkins LLP and Kirkland & Ellis International LLP are hot on their heels. Notable developments on the private equity adviser landscape include the investment being made by Ropes & Gray LLP’s London office, hiring Kiran Sharma and Peter Baldwin from DLA Piper UK LLP and Jones Day respectively.

Within Private equity: transactions , tier 6

Jones Day’s team is able to tap into the capabilities of the firm’s impressive international network. It excels in cross-border mandates, and has been involved in a number of pan-European deals for Riverside. Team head Adam Greaves is recommended.

Within Venture capital, tier 5

Operating as part of the firm’s integrated global private equity practice, Jones Day’s venture team is instructed by a predominantly investor-side client base including Merlin Ventures, Nectar Capital and Net Partners. James Goold has handled a raft of work for NBGI Ventures, including the sale of its investment in InternetQ.

Within Fraud: civil , Jones Day is a first tier firm,

Recent work for Jones Day includes acting for Langbar International, adopting a creative and unusual strategy to obtain summary judgment against a member of its former executive team following one of the longest strikeout applications in history. Sion Richards and Barnaby Stueck are recommended. The team is ‘unflappable under pressure and good humoured under stress’; ‘no task is too hard’ and ‘no problem insoluble’.

Within Banking litigation: investment and retail, tier 5

Jones Day continues to advise clients such as Standard Chartered Bank plc, Bank of America and RBS, and has also been acting for Lehman Brothers Holding Inc in a claim brought in the US against Barclays. Craig Shuttleworth heads the team, whose advice is ‘practical and commercial but always based on a profound knowledge of the law’. Michael Brown is also recommended.

Within Commercial litigation, tier 4

Jones Day is ‘up amongst the best while remaining down to earth’. In the second stage of the practice’s work for Langbar International, the team secured a further recovery for Langbar and its 2,000-plus shareholders. Craig Shuttleworth is recommended; Stephen Brown is ‘cool under pressure’; Lee Coffey is known for multi-jurisdictional disputes; and Sion Richards concentrates on finance disputes, fraud litigation and contentious insolvency.

Within International arbitration International arbitration

Within Corporate restructuring and insolvency, Jones Day is a third tier firm,

Jones Day suffered the loss of Adam Plainer, who left for Weil, Gotshal & Manges, and Claire Martin-Royle, for Taylor Wessing LLP, while Kay Morley has been promoted to partner. The team acts for Standard Bank and RBS, and recently advised BDO on the Pinnacle Entertainment administration.

Within Derivatives and structured products, tier 4

Jones Day’s team includes Ed Nalbantian, Liz Saxton, Michael Pabst and Amy Kho, and is specialist derivatives counsel for the US estate of Lehman Brothers regarding UK transactions. It is notable for restructuring and contentious matters.

Within Emerging markets, tier 4

Jones Day advised Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation on its $500m pre-export finance facility, led by Ed Borrini.

Within Investment funds Investment funds

Within Trade finance, Jones Day is a third tier firm,

Jones Day’s Ed Borrini is ‘extremely helpful, flexible and knowledgeable’, and recently advised Eurasian Natural Resources Group on a $500m pre-export facility; and Michael Pabst has a notable mining practice. Clients include Standard Bank and Andean American Gold Corp.

Within Employee share schemes, tier 5

John Papadakis at Jones Day is noted for his ‘expert knowledge’ and ‘informative responses’.

Within Employment, tier 7

Mark Taylor at Jones Day advises premium corporates such as Alsthom Power Services on HR aspects of their business. Recent matters include advising L&G on IT outsourcing to IBM, and on the administration of Connaught. Lisa Mayhew has joined Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP.

Within Pensions, tier 4

Jones Day has seen an increase in work across scheme closures, bulk transfers and scheme mergers, and acts for high-calibre clients such as Hanson Limited, The Church Army Pension Scheme and Scotts Miracle-Gro. Head of department Rosalind Connor and Stephen Brown are recommended, and of counsel John Papadakis also has significant expertise in the area.

Within Product liability: defendant, tier 5

Craig Shuttleworth is Jones Day’s key partner for product liability.

Within Mining and minerals, Jones Day is a second tier firm,

Jones Day was appointed to act for Base Resources on its Kwale Mineral Sands project financing in Kenya. Michael Pabst is the main contact.

Within Oil and gas, tier 5

Jones Day has experience acting for both banks and sponsors on project finance and construction matters. Arman Galledari heads the team and is recommended.

Within Power (including electricity, nuclear and renewables) , tier 5

In 2010, Jones Day’s London team was involved in advising Up Energy Holding on a $70m senior debt financing.

Within Commercial property, tier 4

Jones Day’s approachable team is ‘always first rate’, and represents clients such as British Land, CIT and Delancey. It acted for London & Stamford on the £208m acquisition of the Radial portfolio. David Roberts and David Smith are ‘commercial and always eager to help’, Stephen Walter is ‘very knowledgeable and experienced’, and Alistair Grant is ‘an excellent transactional lawyer’. Associates Alice Conway and Iain Hindhaugh are also recommended.

Within Construction, tier 4

Jones Day’s team ‘communicates effectively and provides succinct legal advice that can be put to commercial use’. It advised Qatar’s Barwa Real Estate in a £500m construction dispute over the Barwa City project. Hamish Lal heads the practice.

Within Property finance, Jones Day is a third tier firm,

Jones Day advised on over £2bn of property finance deals during 2010, including advising Meyer Bergman on an £82m acquisition facility to fund a 50% interest in the Bentall Centre, Kingston. Andrew Barker, Neil Ferguson and Liz Saxton are ‘practical and commercial’.

Within Property litigation, tier 4

Jones Day is developing its reputation in development and insolvency disputes, and acts for Hermes, Hilton Hotels and CBRE. Practice head Richard Anyamene ‘resolves problems practically and to a budget’.

Within Intellectual property, tier 5

Led by Alastair McCulloch, Jones Day’s practice covers patent litigation and soft IP rights, transactional work and trade mark prosecution, and is supported by the firm’s international strength. Of counsel Neil Coulson is ‘intelligent, quick, charming and practical’.

Within IT and telecoms, tier 4

At Jones Day, Jonathon Little advised Legal & General on the first-generation outsourcing of its IT and communications infrastructure. On the telecoms side, Jarleth Burke and Nicholas Cotter are representing Digicel in its High Court claim against Cable & Wireless. Its prestigious client list also includes Scripps Networks and TeliaSonera.

Within Pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, tier 4

At Jones Day, competition partner Frances Murphy is representing AstraZeneca before the European courts in relation to the application of Article 102 to the pharmaceuticals sector. Together with Stephen Brown, she represented Sanofi-Aventis in High Court actions concerning alleged anti-competitive activity.