The Legal 500

Within Healthcare and life sciences, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP is a third tier firm,

Primarily known for its strong coverage of the West Coast, particularly from San Francisco and Los Angeles, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP’s ‘well-respected practice’ also has a substantial presence in New York and Washington DC. As with other comprehensive healthcare practices, the firm provides advice and litigation support on antitrust, corporate, commercial, financing, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement and compliance and other regulatory issues. It represents hospitals, medical centers, insurers, and pharmaceutical and biotech manufacturers, among which are Aetna, Ascension Health, Blue Shield of California, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Merck & Co, Pfizer and Tenet Healthcare. Notably, the firm also maintains as an adjunct Manatt Health Solutions strategic and advisory division. William Bernstein chairs the practice from New York, while San Francisco-based Daniel Higgins advises healthcare service providers on corporate matters.

Within Marketing and advertising, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP is a second tier firm,

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP’s team includes New York-based advertising lawyers, a strong West Coast entertainment and media presence and an advertising litigation and regulatory practice in Washington DC. Instructions cover traditional and new media, mobile marketing, branded entertainment, and interactive and social media. The group handles compliance, transactions and litigation arising from false advertising claims, with litigators undertaking both plaintiff and defense work. Although the practice is best known for representing major brands, it also acts for advertising agencies, with Jeffrey Edelstein in New York providing ongoing advice to The Martin Agency, most recently on AOL’s “Safe Social” program. In addition to transactional and compliance work, the group advised on sponsorship, event marketing, brand integration, celebrity endorsements, alternative advertising and user-generated content, social media policies, sweepstakes and competitions. The proliferation of false advertising cases continues, and in 2010 the group handled over 20 NAD challenges. New York-based practice head Linda Goldstein and Christopher Cole in Washington DC ‘have excellent knowledge of marketing and advertising laws, are very responsive and understand the need to provide value in a cost effective manner’. Highlights included handling NAD actions for Kimberly-Clark Corporation (KCC), notably successfully challenging advertising claims by Procter & Gamble concerning its Dry Max diapers. Edelstein and Angela Hurdle successfully defended Schick safety razors against an NAD action brought by Gillette. Goldstein led a team providing legal and regulatory guidance to Sales Portal on the launch of its novel lead generation product. Transactional highlights included acting for Diageo negotiating financing, production and distribution deals for a new reality show. The practice successfully defended General Mills in a putative class action lawsuit claiming that an on-pack game can fall within the purview of the gambling laws. Other key clients include AT&T, Best Buy, Coca-Cola, DIRECTV, Electrolux, Expedia, Live Nation and MillerCoors. In 2010, Thomas Morrison, from Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler, and Marc Roth, from Time Warner subsidiary Synapse Group, joined the team. Terri Seligman left to join Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz.

Within M&A: middle-market (sub-$500m), Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP is a third tier firm,

For complex M&A transactions, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP regularly draws upon the experience of attorneys in many other practice areas, including antitrust, environmental, IP, labour, tax, executive compensation and employee benefits. The practice represented the audit committee of the board of directors of Sucampo Pharmaceuticals in its $80m acquisition of Sucampo, a Swiss-based patent-holding company and its wholly owned subsidiary, Sucampo AG Japan, a patent maintenance company, from the cofounders and majority shareholders of Sucampo Pharmaceuticals. It also advised Cerberus Capital Management in its $875m purchase of Caritas Christi Health System, one of New England’s largest non-profit hospital systems. BMG Rights Management was assisted in its acquisition of Chrysalis, a leading independent music publisher, and its 100,000-song catalog, which includes songs by David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Cee Lo Green, Sheryl Crow, and Blondie. Both peers and clients recommend Los Angeles and New York-based M&A chair David Grinberg.

Within Land use/zoning , Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP is a second tier firm,

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP assists private and public landholders in obtaining permits and other entitlements on the West Coast. The firm has a strong focus on sustainable and green development, and is representing Hydrogen Energy International on the land use and zoning aspects of the creation of a unique hydrogen-based electricity generation power plant; the project has $300m worth of funding from the US Department of Energy and will power 150,000 California homes, while capturing 90% of the carbon dioxide the power plant creates.