The Legal 500

Within Bankruptcy: New York,

Kaye Scholer LLP

PRACTICE: Kaye Scholer LLP’s New York-based practice has 12 partners whose skills range from creditor representation to cross-border insolvency. It has established a reputation for competence which attracts large and complex instructions. During 2008, the practice represented JHT Holdings and its affiliates in a Chapter 11 filing. The company, the leading transporter of commercial trucks in North America, was successfully restructured in October 2008, only four months after declaring for protection, following complex and sometimes contentious negotiations with all interested parties.

CLIENTS: Debtor corporations represented in Chapter 11 cases include Insight Imaging, Spinnaker Industries and Nutritional Sourcing Corporation.

INDIVIDUALS: Scott Talmadge in New York is recommended for complex instructions including those with a cross-border element.

Within Patent litigation: full coverage: National,

Kaye Scholer LLP

PRACTICE: With 70 IP attorneys, Kaye Scholer LLP has depth of expertise in presenting complex patent cases to juries. Many of its litigators are former federal prosecutors or patent examiners, who work together with full-time scientific advisors in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and chemical industries. Kaye Scholer LLP’s attorneys demonstrate ‘good attention to detail’ and ‘vast courtroom experience’. In 2008, the practice represented defendant Thomas & Betts in a patent infringement case against Cooper Industries. It resulted in a jury verdict that the two Cooper patents in question were invalid, and that Thomas & Betts did not infringe any rights.

CLIENTS: Other clients include Barnes & Noble, Boart Longyear, Ceridian, Costco Wholesale, Danaher, General Dynamics, IDT, and Juniper Networks.

INDIVIDUALS: With extensive litigation experience, Washington DC-based Alan Fisch is ‘absolutely brilliant’, say clients. Richard Greco in New York is also recommended.

Within Patent litigation: life sciences/chemical: National,

Kaye Scholer LLP

PRACTICE: ‘The IP leader’ in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and chemical industries, according to clients, Kaye Scholer LLP’s practice has vast expertise in presenting complex patent cases to juries, employing full-time scientific advisors, former federal prosecutors and former patent examiners to reinforce the argument. The practice has 70 IP attorneys, who have ‘a unique skill to analyze a case and swiftly explain the issue, the exposure and craft future strategy and tactics’, comment clients. One client adds that ‘ Kaye Scholer LLP is highly responsive, and sensitive to our budgetary needs’.

CLIENTS: The practice has handled patent litigation matters for the following pharmaceutical companies: Pfizer, Genentech, Novartis, Sanofi-Aventis, Purdue Pharma, Wyeth and Hoffmann-La Roche.

INDIVIDUALS: Based in Washington DC, Alan Fisch ‘has a stellar reputation’, say clients. Clients add that he is ‘one of the brightest intellectual property litigators and strategists ever encountered’, and that ‘he is a top-notch attorney and person’.

Richard Greco has vast experience in complex patent litigation and has represented major pharmaceutical, chemical and biotechnology companies. Leora Ben-Ami advises clients from the medical device, biotechnology and chemical fields, and Gerald Sobel has over 30 years’ patent litigation experience. These three lawyers are based in New York.

Within Product liability and mass tort defense: pharmaceuticals and medical devices: National,

Kaye Scholer LLP

PRACTICE: ‘Definitely among the best’, Kaye Scholer LLP’s product liability practice is packed with ‘very skilled trial lawyers’ who clients say display a ‘very high level of intellectual capabilities’. This practice ‘excels in its ability to craft strategic solutions and manage complex matters in an efficient way’, and its 17 partners are ‘very good at analyzing the issues, but can also try the cases’. Most of the lawyers are located in New York, but four Los Angeles partners serve the West Coast. Clients cite ‘depth of talent’ and ‘experience’ as key factors in the appeal of the practice. The ‘very knowledgeable’ attorneys are particularly useful for handling complex MDL - ‘for this type of mass tort, I would think of Kaye Scholer LLP first,’ declares one client - where a relatively high fee structure becomes ‘cost-effective’. Clients acknowledge that Kaye Scholer LLP has made strenuous efforts to help to manage costs. The practice generally serves as national coordinating counsel or as lead trial counsel. Overall, its extensive experience makes it a go-to option in either the pharmaceuticals or medical devices sectors.

Pfizer - and its subsidiaries Pharmacia & Upjohn (P&U) and Warner-Lambert (W-L) - are important clients of the practice. Kaye Scholer LLP remains national counsel in the ongoing hormone replacement therapy (HRT) litigation for P&U, having won 15 of the 16 cases set for trial. In the only loss, Scroggins v Wyeth et al, in July 2008 Kaye Scholer LLP attorneys persuaded the federal MDL judge to vacate a jury award of $7.76m in punitive damages after arguing that expert witness testimony central to the award had been improperly admitted. Among other notable recent developments in the HRT litigation, the practice moved successfully to consolidate five cases involving several hundred claims into the federal MDL in May 2008.

Kaye Scholer LLP enjoys a substantial list of other engagements in this practice area - something the practice is able to handle because, as clients say, ‘the quality of trial teams runs quite deep’. For example, a successful Daubert motion in April 2008 barred three of plaintiffs’ four expert witnesses in the Viagra federal MDL brought against Pfizer, essentially quelling the litigation concerning allegations that the erectile dysfunction drug causes heart attack or stroke.

Attorneys from the practice continue to act as one of four parts of the AstraZeneca’s virtual law firm for Seroquel. For Novartis, it is finishing off the phenylpropanolamine (PPA) litigation and for W-L continues to act in the remaining Rezulin cases. Among its medical device engagements, the practice has dismissed all but two of the several hundred cases brought against Boston Scientific on matters concerning the Protegen Sling urinary incontinence device.

CLIENTS: The practice also represents Boston Scientific on other matters. Other clients include Allergan, AstraZeneca, Celgene, Lutron Electronics and Pfizer.

INDIVIDUALS: New York-based practice co-chairs, Steven Glickstein and Jay Mayesh are highly regarded and both ‘see the big picture’, according to clients. Glickstein is a ‘leading trial attorney’ and ‘very good on the technical side’, and Mayesh is ‘very practical and very knowledgeable’. Litigation department chairman Aton Arbisser in Los Angeles is ‘one of those guys who is an intellectual and a very good lawyer’, being ‘experienced, smart, strategic and sophisticated’.

Clients identify James Herschlein and Randolph Sherman in New York, as well as Jan Dodd in Los Angeles, as ‘very good trial lawyers’ who are able to ‘present cases in a way that is understandable to juries’ - a particularly valuable quality in complex medical science.

Michael Rogoff and Arthur Brown in New York are also recommended.

Within New York: capital markets,

Kaye Scholer LLP

PRACTICE: Kaye Scholer LLP bucked the trend of doom and pessimism in 2008 by recruiting two new structured finance partners, taking on Janet Barbiere and William Cullen from the now dissolved Thacher Proffitt & Wood. It will be interesting to see how the firm deploys its enhanced securitization capabilities going forwards, however. The firm’s client base, which is unusual in that it features a very high proportion of overseas lenders, perhaps kept the firm more active than many real estate finance teams through 2008, particularly during the early part of the year, mostly on origination matters. Highlights for 2008 include acting for HSH Nordbank on a $750m acquisition and construction loan for the Manhattan House project in New York, and advising RBS Greenwich Capital on a $660m mezzanine loan workout.

CLIENTS: Noteworthy clients include RBS Greenwich Capital, Anglo-Irish Bank, Bank of Scotland, Bayerische Landesbank, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, HSH Nordbank, Hypo Real Estate Capital Corporation, Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS Real Estate Securities and Wachovia.

INDIVIDUALS: The firm is characterised by ‘steadfast personalities’ across the board. Warren Bernstein is singled out for his ‘business acumen’ and ‘technical competence’, while Stephen Gliatta gains plaudits for his ‘expert overall service’ and ‘leadership’.