The Legal 500

Within Asset finance and leasing: National , tier 4

Notwithstanding its small team, Mayer Brown’s asset finance capabilities are strong, particularly when it comes to complex matters in the aviation, maritime, rail and automobile sectors. The group consists of five partners and 12 further counsel/associates, representing clients on domestic single investor leases, bank and public funded debt transactions, lease securitization structures, enhanced equipment trust certificate transactions and lease warehouse structures. The team draws together experienced attorneys from the firm’s offices in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, and is particularly renowned for its tax expertise, advising on complex transactions involving cross-border elements and multi-jurisdictional tax implications. The firm recently represented Mitsui Rail on the sale/leaseback of railcars with a value of $125m, and also acted for Bank of America in the purchase from Ford Motor of a controlling interest in an existing partnership that owns non-real estate assets on long-term leases to various entities. Also in the automobile section, the practice acted in nine auto securitizations under the Government’s TALF program with an aggregate value of over $15bn in 2009. This included acting on the first transaction ever to be launched under TALF, which was a $1.3bn issuance for Nissan Motor Corporation. Representative clients include Citigroup, BNP Paribas, Hyundai Capital America, Hunt Power and Porsche Cars North America. Robert Kelman heads the team, supported by George Miller in New York, who recently joined the firm from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, adding his extensive experience on corporate aircraft financing to the team. Ralph Dudziak, who previously headed the team, left to join DLA Piper LLP.

Within Bank lending: National, tier 6

Mayer Brown’s 13-partner banking practice routinely receives high praise from clients, who cite ‘high levels of responsiveness and attentiveness’ and ‘an excellent quality of business and industry knowledge’. Chicago-based Doug Doetsch heads the group, which also has attorneys in New York, Charlotte, Los Angeles and Houston, and which is also able to staff cross-border mandates with lawyers from its offices internationally. The firm’s global footprint has attracted a heavyweight client base including financial institutions such as Barclays Bank and Credit Suisse. As the turbulent market conditions persisted into 2009, the practice focused its efforts on offering clients innovative solutions for restructuring and recapitalization. For example, it represented Barclays Bank on a $350m DIP loan related to Tribune’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The deal was notable for a ruling allowing Barclays to file, under seal, its fee agreements for the financing, which may have the effect of easing the restrictions on lenders to make DIP loans going forward. In a reflection of its cross-border capabilities, the team also acted for ProLogis and its subsidiaries in a $2.5bn global credit facility refinancing involving 60 lenders, and multi-currency loans and letters of credit across the US, Canada, Europe, Japan and Korea. Chicago-based Robert Baptista is recommended for his ‘very strong industry knowledge and practical advice’, while New York-based David Duffee has an ability to ‘drive right to the point of any matter’. However, the practice has undoubtedly felt the departure of former co-chair Marshall Stoddard, who now heads Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP’s national banking practice.

Within Capital markets: debt offerings, Mayer Brown is a second tier firm,

With a national reach, Mayer Brown’s capital markets group is in a strong position to handle mandates for issuer clients across a variety of industries such as health care, entertainment, telecommunications and energy. The firm’s headquarters is in Chicago and also has offices in New York, Houston, Charlotte, Washington DC and Palo Alto. While the group is slightly better placed to handle issuer work, it is also recommended for assisting a number of well-known manager clients such as Citigroup, Bank of America and JPMorgan. Recent highlights on the manager side include representing Credit Suisse as underwriter in Dow Chemical Company’s issuance of $1.75bn notes, $3.25bn notes and $1bn notes. Also highlighting the group’s ability to handle top quality manager work was the representation of JPMorgan and Citigroup Global Markets as underwriters in Whirlpool Corporation’s issuance of $350m notes and $500m notes. On the issuer side, the group represented Mead Johnson Nutrition in the issuance of $500m notes, $700m notes and $300m notes. Further standout mandates included representing Abbott Laboratories in the issuance of $2bn notes and $1bn notes. Chicago-based Philip Niehoff has handled several high-value transactions for issuer clients, and is recommended for representing manager clients. Edward Best, based in Chicago, and co-leader of the firm’s capital markets and financial institutions groups, is highly rated and benefits from over 20 years’ experience at the firm.

Within Corporate restructuring, tier 5

Mayer Brown’s restructuring, bankruptcy, and insolvency practice group maintains its largest teams in the Chicago and New York offices, competently handling both creditor and debtor-side work of complexity. The group has an excellent following of leading banks including Bank of Montreal, Toronto-Dominion, Canadian Imperial, Bank of America, and Bank of New York. J Robert Stoll who spends his time between the two cities and heads the group, is ‘an old-time bankruptcy attorney, stern, he drives on to arrive at a consensual deal’. New York-based Brian Trust, ‘is hands-on, he gives good advice and doesn’t just take instructions, he works with you to determine strategy’. Sean Scott, in the Chicago office, ‘executed the agreed strategy very well and dealt with our experts on some very complex financial models’. Frederick Hyman, in New York, has acted for many large banks and finance companies to represent their interests in Chapter 11 bankruptcies and other distressed situations.

Within Project finance: advice to lender, Mayer Brown is a second tier firm,

Mayer Brown has long been considered a top-notch US project finance practice with some truly notable individuals, but also considered to be a little thin on the ground and focused largely on handling international projects. However, in 2009, the firm made significant strides in boosting its project finance coverage with the addition of Robert Goldberg from Chadbourne & Parke LLP to the Houston office, George Miller from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP to the New York office, and Christopher Erckert and Jeffrey Davis from Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. and McKee Nelson, respectively, to the Washington DC office. The firm is currently in the process of taking on further lateral hires that when added will give the firm its first Washington DC-based project finance team. The new hires are part of the firm’s strategic decision to go after a greater share of US domestic market work. Meanwhile, the firm continued to boost its international project finance team following its merger with Asia-based law firm Johnson Stokes & Master in 2008, by entering into an association with Brazil’s Tauil & Chequer Advogados in association with Mayer Brown LLP. The group is best known for its work for lender clients such as Ex-Im Bank and Société Générale, and recently added a panel position with the IFC to its list of accomplishments. Highlights have included acting for the IFC, Ex-Im Bank and IDB on a $200m, 67.5MW wind project (the first wind project supported by the Ex-Im Bank), and acting for Banco Nacional de Obras y Servicios Públicos and Banco Santander on the financing for the $700m, 300MW Nuevo Pemex cogeneration facility, which is the first of a planned series of nine similar projects aimed at providing electricity to Pemex. However, the firm’s sponsor side credentials should not be ignored. In 2009, the group continued to advise the Panama Canal Authority on its $5.25bn expansion of the Panama Canal, advising on the $3.2bn locks contract and associated technical matters that established key terms to govern the entire construction process. Other sponsor clients include the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Further notable matters included getting in on the ground floor of social infrastructure projects, which has yet to take off in the US, in acting for Fortis Bank as lead arrangers regarding a proton therapy treatment centre in Sommerset, New Jersey. Chicago-based Barry Machlin is ‘as good as any of the people listed in The Legal 500 leading lawyers list, and in some respects better; with a better variety and depth of experience than any other’, as well as being a ‘creative thinker and problem solver instead of a position taker’.

Within Structured finance , Mayer Brown is a second tier firm,

Mayer Brown’s securitization team has grown and developed with the market, and the practice group remains at the top of the field, although the departure of partner Joel Telpner to Jones Day will affect the firm’s wider structured finance and derivatives offering to some extent. Members of the practice are housed in the Chicago, Charlotte, New York and Washington DC offices, which work seamlessly together. One client comments ‘regardless of geographic distance, we receive very quick response, and sometimes feel as if we work under the same roof’. At a professional and policy level, the standing of the firm was originally established by Jason Kravitt, commended for ‘industry and regulatory knowledge, strength of counsel, and accuracy in prediction’. Kravitt is currently deputy chair of the American Securitization Forum (ASF). Kravitt, with special counsel Robert Hugi, is currently advising the ASF on matters relating to bank regulatory capital associated with securitization exposures. The team also played a central role in the implementation of the US Federal Reserve’s Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF), both in drafting the standard documentation for the program, and representing numerous banks as agents as the program was rolled out. Driven by James Patti, who divides his time between Chicago and London, and Chicago-based Doug Doetsch, the structured finance practice has leveraged off the global reach of the firm and is now building well, particularly in Asia and Latin America; ‘in emerging capital markets, it is a clear leader in structured finance’, Other developing niche areas include the expanding environmental, carbon, and alternative energy securitization market, and ‘the firm has improved its insurance transaction expertise’. The firm’s clients include General Electric, Deutsche Bank, Barclays, Credit Suisse and ABN AMRO. In a recent high profile securitization instruction, notable for both its complexity and value, co-chairs Jason Kravitt, and Stuart Litwin were key members of a heavyweight team which acted as transaction counsel on behalf of Citibank, Morgan Stanley and Straight-A Funding, in the establishing the first large structured finance vehicle created since the Lehman brothers bankruptcy, an asset-backed commercial paper program which was created by the student loan industry with assistance from the US government. In another challenging assignment, Jon Van Gorp in Chicago, widely commended as ‘an excellent structured finance lawyer, outstanding on all the elements’, was a key member of the team which represented Assured Guaranty in connection with its purchase of monoline insurer Financial Security Assurance. The transaction included complex protection arrangements provided by the seller that were structured as swap agreements guaranteed in part by the French and Belgian governments. Other strong members in the practice group include Paul Jorissen, in New York, who has a broad practice which incorporates complex derivative, credit default and swap instructions situations. In Chicago, George Pecoulas, who co-chairs the finance group, provides tremendous expertise in the securitization of installment finance and trade receivables, as does Carol Hitselberger, in Charlotte. Chicago-based Paul Forrester ‘constructive, inventive and analytical’, has a wide practice which includes securitization, derivatives and many other structured products.

Within Patent litigation: life sciences/chemical, tier 4

Mayer Brown has particular expertise in handling Hatch-Waxman Act patent litigation on behalf of major pharmaceutical companies, and in 2009, the team litigated more than 45 multimillion and multibillion-dollar cases. The team is currently defending Cook and Cook Medical in a patent infringement action involving six patents covering endoscopic catheters, needle knives and triple lumen sphincterotomes. Other notable clients include Abbott Laboratories, Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Unimed Pharmaceuticals, Fournier Laboratories, the University of Missouri and Galderma Laboratories. ‘Highly knowledgeable and approachable’, Joseph Mahoney in Chicago and John Mancini in New York head the patent litigation department.

Within Trademarks: litigation, tier 5

Mayer Brown’s trademark practice provides clients with significant experience in both trademark and copyright litigation, alongside the usual resources enjoyed by a full service IP practice with a global reach. Clients appreciate this experience, saying the lawyers are ‘extremely responsive and responsible. They are highly knowledgeable, and work as a team’, which consists of ‘a deep bench of smart, talented, and committed lawyers’, part of ‘an actual global footprint providing legal services efficiently, with superior quality’. In addition, clients say that the attorneys ‘personal commitment to good work product is important’, both to the team’s standing and to themselves. Whilst trademark work for clients included achieving a favourable settlement on behalf of MetLife in a federal litigation stemming from another company’s use of the trademark “MLife”, the firm’s involvement in the $1bn Google/YouTube copyright class action remains most significant, not least for the implications of the case for copyright law and the internet. John Mancini is praised for his ‘very deep experience, on both traditional and contemporary copyright issues’. Other clients assisted by the team include Geisha, Nestlé USA and the Promontory Financial Group.

Within Private equity funds, tier 4

Mayer Brown is ‘great for real estate private equity’, and also possesses a more traditional buyout component spanning industry sectors. 12 Chicago partners form the core of the practice, although around 100 partners across the firm do some private equity work. The team does not have the profile of some of its New York-based competitors, but has remained active in forming funds in a market where some higher profile names have floundered. The group formed Hudson Clean Energy Partners, a $1bn fund dedicated to investments in renewable power, alternative fuels, and energy efficiency and storage. It advised on the formation of Macquarie Infrastructure Partners II, a North America and Mexico-focused infrastructure fund targeting $3bn in commitments, and represented Ramius Capital Group in forming RCG Longview Debt Fund IV, a $602m fund investing in real estate assets. It acted for the sponsor in the formation of $243m Wrightwood Capital High Yield Partners II. Other major clients include ING Clarion Partners, GEM Realty Capital, Heitman Capital Management and Prudential Real Estate Investors. John Noell in Chicago is ‘good for fund advisory work’.

Within Appellate, Mayer Brown is a first tier firm,

Mayer Brown’s venerable Supreme Court and appellate practice has great depth and a fine record of achievement for blue-chip clients across many types of litigation. The team has good representation in Washington DC, New York and Chicago. The firm’s most impressive results in 2009 were at the appellate level, but it remains a leading Supreme Court contender, having argued eight cases in 2008 and 2009. Andrew Frey argued for Altria in Brown et al v RJ Reynolds et al at the Eleventh Circuit, a case seeking leave for the plaintiffs to re-file their tobacco cases as a tort after they were part of the earlier decertified Engle class action. When delivered, the verdict will have application to many of the 3,500 Engle-progeny cases in the Florida court system. In Mazza v American Honda at the Ninth Circuit, the practice is arguing for American Honda in appealing against class certification of a California unfair competition lawsuit in which most plaintiffs live outside the state. The case is significant in that certification essentially could bring California unfair competition law to bear nationwide. In other matters, in June 2009 the group successfully opposed plaintiffs’ certoriari petition to appeal in Andrews v Chevy Chase Bank, a putative class action on behalf of homeowners who sought rescission of their mortgages under the Truth In Lending Act. Denial of certoriari closed out a win for the firm, which had already successfully persuaded the Seventh Circuit to reverse the district court’s class certification. Evan Tager, Dan Himmelfarb and Andrew Tauber won a string of victories for CSX Transportation at the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, the Sixth Circuit and the Supreme Court in employee personal injury cases. In Pottawattamie County, Iowa, et al v McGhee et al, the firm argued for the Office of the County Attorney before the Supreme Court in a fine question over the scope of prosecutors’ immunity from federal lawsuits. The case reached settlement before the court deliberated. Stephen Shapiro is a founding member of the appellate practice and ‘a master in the courtroom’. Andrew Schapiro is ‘a superstar: he will eclipse his mentors’. Andrew Pincus, Kenneth Geller, and Lauren Goldman are also recommended.

Within Environment, Mayer Brown is a third tier firm,

The environment team at Mayer Brown is ‘very professional’, displaying ‘excellent responsiveness’ and ‘producing great outcomes in litigation’. The firm regularly represents clients before EPA, DOT, FAA, and other federal and state agencies as well as advising on legislative strategies for environmental matters, including permitting and climate change. Infrastructure projects and advice on the environmental aspects of real estate and corporate finance deals are another area where the practice excels. Representative clients include Ford Motor Company, US Sugar, Dow Chemical and CMS Energy. The firm is representing the BNSF Railway Co on environmental issues in the development of a $150m state-of-the-art intermodal facility near Kansas City, working with federal, state, and local authorities to secure necessary approvals, and to defend those approvals in the event of litigation. In the mass tort field, the firm achieved a significant victory for Cargill in two cases involving over 300 plaintiffs pending in federal court in central Nebraska. Plaintiffs alleged significant personal injury and property claims from groundwater contamination allegedly emanating from a former Cargill facility. The practice is jointly led by Thomas Skinner and John Hahn and is particularly strong in Chicago and Washington DC. Clients praise Thomas Skinner’s ‘strong legal skills’, while John Hahn is known for his ‘excellent responsiveness’. Kathryn Kusske Floyd is well regarded.

Within Supreme Court, Mayer Brown is a first tier firm,

Mayer Brown’s venerable Supreme Court and appellate practice has great depth and a fine record of achievement for blue-chip clients across many types of litigation. The team has good representation in Washington DC, New York and Chicago. The firm’s most impressive results in 2009 were at the appellate level, but it remains a leading Supreme Court contender, having argued eight cases in 2008 and 2009. Andrew Frey argued for Altria in Brown et al v RJ Reynolds et al at the Eleventh Circuit, a case seeking leave for the plaintiffs to re-file their tobacco cases as a tort after they were part of the earlier decertified Engle class action. When delivered, the verdict will have application to many of the 3,500 Engle-progeny cases in the Florida court system. In Mazza v American Honda at the Ninth Circuit, the practice is arguing for American Honda in appealing against class certification of a California unfair competition lawsuit in which most plaintiffs live outside the state. The case is significant in that certification essentially could bring California unfair competition law to bear nationwide. In other matters, in June 2009 the group successfully opposed plaintiffs’ certoriari petition to appeal in Andrews v Chevy Chase Bank, a putative class action on behalf of homeowners who sought rescission of their mortgages under the Truth In Lending Act. Denial of certoriari closed out a win for the firm, which had already successfully persuaded the Seventh Circuit to reverse the district court’s class certification. Evan Tager, Dan Himmelfarb and Andrew Tauber won a string of victories for CSX Transportation at the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, the Sixth Circuit and the Supreme Court in employee personal injury cases. In Pottawattamie County, Iowa, et al v McGhee et al, the firm argued for the Office of the County Attorney before the Supreme Court in a fine question over the scope of prosecutors’ immunity from federal lawsuits. The case reached settlement before the court deliberated. Stephen Shapiro is a founding member of the appellate practice and ‘a master in the courtroom’. Andrew Schapiro is ‘a superstar: he will eclipse his mentors’. Andrew Pincus, Kenneth Geller, and Lauren Goldman are also recommended.

Within Trade secrets, Mayer Brown is a third tier firm,

Operating out of New York, Chicago and Washington DC, Mayer Brown has a well-rounded bench, handling complex trade secrets dispute. The practice’s attorneys have a good track record of winning cases in a broad range of industries, including food products, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. The group also assists clients in the protection of trade secrets, restrictive covenants and information protection outside the courtroom through non-disclosure agreements and confidentiality issues. Among recent highlights, the team successfully represented Faiveley Transport in the prosecution of a trade secret misappropriation case against Wabtec Corporation relating to Faiveley’s invention of tread brakes for railway, transit and subway cars. The Court found that Wabtec had misappropriated Faiveley’s trade secrets and granted Faiveley’s request for a preliminary injunction barring the defendant from entering into any new contracts for the protected products. Other noteworthy clients include Amgen and Promontory Financial Group. The team saw the recent arrival of Gary Hnath from Bingham McCutchen LLP and Lisa Ferri in New York, who previously worked at McDermott Will & Emery LLP. Hnath has participated in more than 30 Section 337 investigations, achieving significant victories in several high-profile cases representing clients throughout the world. Ferri has over 15 years acting as trial counsel for a variety of pharmaceutical and technology clients before the federal courts, courts of appeal and the International Trade Commission. Leading figures in the department include practice head Joseph Mahoney in Chicago and John Mancini in New York, who is ‘approachable and experienced’.

Within White-collar criminal defense, tier 6

With a strong bi-coastal offering as well as a sizeable presence in Chicago, Mayer Brown provides an all-encompassing service to clients engaged in a diverse spread of white-collar concerns. With 17-former assistant US attorneys among its ranks, the firm ‘really knows how to try cases’. This can be illustrated no less starkly than in its recent high-profile success for one of the former executives of WR Grace. In what was the most extensive environmental criminal prosecution ever brought, the firm’s client was acquitted of all charges after an 11-week trial. The team also continues to act for Fannie Mae’s former controller in connection with numerous lawsuits and investigations arising out of accounting irregularities at the company. As well as its proven track record at trial level, the team is also regularly instructed by clients to advise on compliance, as well as to undertake independent internal investigations. Washington DC-based co-head of the group David Krakoff has tried over 50 federal and state trials, including the recent successful acquittal of an executive of WR Grace accused of environmental criminal abuses. Co-heads Lynn Neils and Zaldwaynaka Scott are also recommended.

Within Technology: data protection and privacy, Mayer Brown is a third tier firm,

Mayer Brown’s multi-disciplinary privacy practice centers on Washington DC with additional resources in Chicago and New York. It comprises experienced attorneys from financial services regulatory, intellectual property, business technology outsourcing and labor law who handle the privacy and data security aspects of transactions as well as assisting stand-alone clients seeking specific advice on data protection, global data transfer and privacy. New York-based John Mancini and his colleagues in the litigation department defended clients in class actions, private lawsuits, and FTC investigations relating to privacy issues and data breach response matters. In Washington DC, Jeffrey Taft specializes in advising financial institutions on compliance and privacy matters. Chicago-based outsourcing specialist Rebecca Eisner advised Lindt & Sprüngli on privacy laws and regulations and terms and conditions affecting its various retail websites in the US and EU. Other high-profile clients include Northern Trust, Google/YouTube, McCain Foods, Sara Lee Corporation and Caterpillar Financial Services.

Within Technology: outsourcing, Mayer Brown is a first tier firm,

Mayer Brown’s 50-attorney practice represents national and international clients in onshore, near-shore and offshore information technology outsourcing (ITO) and business process outsourcing (BPO) transactions, from strategic out-tasking arrangements to multibillion-dollar, multi-tower global transactions. Clients consider this ‘business savvy’ team ‘top-notch in all areas: expertise, attitude and responsiveness’ and it continues to win prominent, prestigious mandates. The group has particular strength in offshore outsourcing. Its international scope and ability to handle big deals in the most active jurisdictions makes it ‘first-choice’ for many clients. ‘Knowledgeable, experienced’ practice head Dan Masur in Washington DC represented global apparel company VF/Wipro in the outsourcing of application development and application maintenance functions to a leading offshore service provider. Masur has been described as ‘pretty much the top name in the field’. In 2009, the scope of outsourcing deals broadened as clients sought new ways of capturing value and incentivising innovation. Work included complex, multi-source arrangements and renegotiating and restructuring existing arrangements to reflect technological developments including cloud computing and switch to best-of-breed providers. The practice handled the largest deals across a range of industries for longstanding clients including Procter & Gamble and Rio Tinto. The diversity of the work, both in terms of the industry and the specification of the appointment, underlines the group’s breadth of service on the customer side. In Chicago, ‘terrific lawyer’ Rebecca Eisner served as lead counsel to Sara Lee in a multi-tower, global outsourcing deal with IBM involving ITO, finance and accounting, and procurement functions, and assisted with the expansion of an existing infrastructure deal with HP. Kevin Rang, who impresses clients with his ‘complete dedication to getting a very good job done quickly’, represented Whirlpool in a $250m global ITO deal with IBM that included telecommunications, desktop support and managed network services. ‘Inspiring negotiator’ Brad Peterson represented Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in a software applications development and maintenance agreement with an India-based service provider. Indian-trained lawyer Sonia Baldia joined the team in Washington DC. Paul Roy is recommended as ‘a great asset, time and again’ and ‘the best outsourcing lawyer’. David Hudanish in New York is singled out for praise. Clients include TXU, United Airlines, Dow Chemical, Allianz and Fireman’s Fund, Whirlpool, Rio Tinto and ITT.

Within Telecoms and broadcast: regulatory, Mayer Brown is a third tier firm,

Mayer Brown combines regulatory expertise with a nationwide telecoms litigation practice. According to clients, ‘the firm has a deep bench and is very responsive to requests for help’. Although with six partners, the group is relatively small, it ‘is very strong on general regulatory matters’ and has handled the majority of landmark cases under the 1996 Telecommunications Act in multiple forums. Convergence has generated significant work as cable television companies move into the traditional telecoms space and telecoms companies offer VOIP and broadband. The national outlook afforded by the group’s long-term placement of resources in the Chicago office has put it among a small group of firms truly able to claim to offer extensive litigation experience across the state courts and before the FCC ‘with unswerving consistency and competency’. The team represents major client AT&T in disputes with local authorities over local communications regulations. It is representing AT&T Mobility in several states where permission was denied for cell towers, notably winning a landmark case in the Third Circuit in Philadelphia. ‘Excellent’ Chicago partner Ted Livingston, who leads the practice has represented AT&T dating back to the group’s formation, offering ‘excellent value, knowledge, advice and results’. Livingston is currently handling numerous antitrust cases which involve communications regulatory rules and orders, and consumer class actions under the communications laws, successfully arguing for the dismissal of a class action challenging the FCC order prohibiting exclusive deals between video providers and owners of apartment complexes. Demetrios Metropoulos also represents AT&T, handling numerous inter-carrier compensation and access complaints. The team successfully represented affiliates of Sprint – iPCS Wireless, Horizon Personal Communications and Bright Personal Communications Services – in high-profile breach of contract cases challenging Sprint’s conduct in the aftermath of the Sprint-Nextel merger and subsequently in litigation in Illinois arising from Sprint’s arrangement to deploy 4G wireless technology with Clearwire. The team operates in a specific niche and therefore has its limitations; however, it is recognized for providing a specialized set of skills that are matched by few in the market.

Within Antitrust , tier 4

‘As good as it gets’, Mayer Brown’s undoubted sweet-spot lies in the field of private litigation, both at trial and appellate level. Able to mobilize the resources of over 65 attorneys – including a significant number with governmental agency and regulatory authority experience – the firm’s expertise runs the gamut from regulatory investigations and follow-on class actions to criminal litigation. ‘The fees were reasonable, the advice was of the highest possible quality, the depth of knowledge was exactly what I expected, and the strength and size of the team was good’, enthuses one client. Richard Favretto is ‘an established national expert and was able to use his reputation and experience to help shape the course of defense efforts by the larger group defendants’. Indeed, Favretto is regularly at the heart of the firm’s most significant litigation including its representation of DSM Elastomers and DSM Copolymer in connection with allegations that manufacturers conspired to fix the price, and allocate customers and nationwide markets for EPDM. ‘Very active on the cartel front’, the team is involved in a raft of significant consolidated class actions alleging price-fixing of entire industries, for example, it represents Cypress Semiconductor in a suit alleging collusion between the manufacturers of SRAM chips. Robert Bloch heads a team whose clients include Cargill, UnitedHealth Group, Blue Shield of California, Cypress Semiconductor, Solvay Pharmaceutical and United Airlines.

Within M&A: large deals ($1bn-5bn), Mayer Brown is a second tier firm,

Mayer Brown’s ‘impressive and far-reaching M&A practice’ is mainly led from New York, Chicago and Houston, and it has recently expanded its presence both in Asia and Brazil. One of the firm’s strengths lies in strategic transactions, frequently within the chemicals, energy and financial institutions space. Highlight deals included the representation of Mead Johnson Nutrition in the $7.7bn split-off of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company’s 83% stake in the company and assisting Canadian public company, George Weston, in the sale of the US fresh bread and baked goods business of its subsidiary Dunedin Holdings for approximately $2.5bn. The firm has a solid name for energy-related M&A, examples of which included advising the Special Committee of the Audit, Conflicts and Governance Committee of TEPPCO’s general partner in its $3.3bn merger with Enterprise Products Partners, forming the largest publicly traded energy partnership with an enterprise value of more than $26bn. Additionally, the firm has a notable mid-market practice. It recently represented iPCS, a provider of wireless voice and data products and services, in its sale to Sprint Nextel for $83m, and advised TransCanada in its acquisition of ConocoPhillips’ remaining ownership interests in the Keystone Pipeline System for $550m plus the assumption of $200m of short-term debt. Clients also appreciate the related financing strength that straddles the firm’s transactions expertise. Chicago-based Scott Davis heads the group, his notable engagements including the representation of Allied Waste in its merger with Republic Services; and advising CBOT Holdings, the parent of the Chicago Board of Trade, in CBOT Holdings’ merger with CME Holdings. Chicago-based William Kucera is also recommended, having acted for SPSS, a publicly-held software company headquartered in Chicago, in its acquisition by IBM for a total cash consideration of $1.2bn. Frederick Thomas is also a key Chicago figure.

Within M&A: large deals ($1bn-5bn), Mayer Brown is a second tier firm,

Clients are impressed by how ‘responsive and informed’ the attorneys at Morgan Lewis are; ‘It is a top national firm, with a deep bench ‘. The group has become increasingly active in life sciences M&A, as well as distressed asset deals, but in the energy sector, the firm has reaped the rewards of its late 2008 hiring of 17 energy transactional attorneys from now-dissolved law firm Thelen LLP to its business and finance practice in New York, adding considerable depth to its existing capabilities in energy-focused transactions. And in June 2009, the firm announced the addition of new partners in Houston, including David Asmus, Baker Botts L.L.P.’s former global oil and gas practice head, as well as Michael King. In addition, the firm brought in five partners and eight associates from Bingham McCutchen LLP and Andrew Weil from Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal. Transactions appearing on the deal list vary from the over-a-hundred-million range to multiple billions; and beyond the energy sector, the M&A group has considerable experience in financial services, life sciences, manufacturing, media and technology. Representative transactions included Steven Navarro leading the team’s advisory role in the $1.6bn acquisition by Canadian-based Viterra of Australian agribusiness company ABB Grain, that created one of the largest exporters of wheat, canola and barley in the world. Other deals included Denmark-based public company and international pharmaceutical company H Lundbeck’s $900m strategic acquisition of Illinois-based Ovation Pharmaceuticals. New York-based Alec Dawson and Robert Robison are, ‘by nature, curious people, and therefore smart lawyers. They are interested in the subject matter and willing to immerse themselves in matters’.

Within Real estate: Central, Mayer Brown is a third tier firm,

Mayer Brown has a significant real estate practice in Illinois in addition to its other offices across the US, and is experienced in dealing with key real estate areas such as tax, environment and project finance. ‘Excellent at giving sound advice and providing industry knowledge’, it has a solid national and global client base, and in 2009 saw an increase in restructuring and workout matters in common with many of its peers. Highlights included representing General Motors in numerous sale-leaseback transactions involving 14 properties in 13 states, to the value of approximately $290m. It also received instructions from Cabot Industrial Value Fund on three separate acquisitions of property portfolios consisting of warehouse distribution facilities and industrial properties; the transactions had a value of approximately $200.7m and involved an aggregate of 34 properties in multiple states.

Within Real estate: Central, Mayer Brown is a third tier firm,

Further clients of the practice include Maquarie Real Estate, Clarion Lion Properties Fund, Meridian, Carlyle, The Prudential Insurance Company of America and Principal Real Estate Investors. Chicago based Alvin Katz has a strong following of real estate investor clients which includes private equity and REIT managers. John Gearen is also popular among investor clients and represents a large number of financial institutions and pension funds.

Within Domestic tax: Central, Mayer Brown is a first tier firm,

Mayer Brown’s Chicago origins are still reflected in a strong regional presence although the firm prefers to emphasize the strength of the global tax offering, to which the Illinois-based lawyers certainly make a significant contribution. The leading lawyers in the team, in fact, carry out work on more instructions out of state and region than they do for regionally-based clients. Globally, the firm organizes into two practice disciplines, tax transactions and tax controversy, and Chicago is extremely strong in both, possessing a broad expertise which includes tax-planning and other advisory work, as well as regional tax niches such as financing, bio-tech, pharma and life science corporate transactions, insurance and reinsurance. Active or recent clients of the tax department include Chevy Chase Bank, Ace Limited, Assured Guaranty, Transcanada and Yahoo!. Although M&A activity declined through 2009, the practice was instructed in a number of high-value transactions. The highly-respected Thomas Bottomlee, ‘hugely intelligent and clearly in complete command of his brief’, acted for SPSS when IBM acquired the stock of the analytics software leader in an all cash merger, a deal of considerable complexity requiring sensitive and sophisticated negotiations on tax issues. In late 2009, James Barry led the tax advisory team for Mead Johnson Nutrition in its $9bn spinoff by Bristol Meyers Squibb. Other strong practitioners in the Chicago group include Timothy Sherck who has ‘business sense and offers sound tax advice’, William Levy, who advises in a high volume of finance deals, has ‘a keen eye for detail and takes a wider perspective than most tax lawyers’. Robert Kelman is also recommended as a highly experienced corporate tax lawyer with the broad practice.

Within International tax, Mayer Brown is a third tier firm,

Mayer Brown’s worldwide complement of tax lawyers totals some 130 with a heavyweight US group represented in several offices including Chicago, New York and Washington DC. Of the overseas offices, those in Germany are particularly strong, and the Beijing tax offering is steadily growing. In late 2009, an alliance was formed with Brazilian law firm Tauil & Chequer. The US group has a reputation for business focus and, although taking up a share of the cross-border M&A market, is rather busier with international restructuring, both post-merger and in distressed scenarios. Representative clients of the international tax practice include LBO France, ACE, McKesson and Dole Food. Within the wider group, a controversy and transfer pricing practice is increasingly busy with inter-jurisdictional negotiations; Canada is noted as particularly aggressive. In recent instructions, Washington DC-based Kenneth Klein, who heads the tax transactions and planning department, and Rafic Barrage, one of the firm’s ‘impressive younger partners’ represented Yahoo! in the US international tax aspects of its search alliance and advertising agreement with Microsoft. The firm has deep expertise in the insurance sector and has recently strengthened the insurance practice. Chicago’s James Barry, led for the tax group in advising ACE when the leading global property and casualty insurer migrated from the Cayman Islands to Switzerland. George Craven, also based in Chicago, is also highly recommended for his expertise in insurance taxation.

Within Tax controversy, Mayer Brown is a first tier firm,

Mayer Brown combines tax controversy and transfer pricing practices within an impressive department with a national profile. With a complement of some 55 fee-earners, the group provides ‘determined and inventive’ client support ranging from tax audit counseling, representation in administrative appeals and international transfer pricing, through to tax controversy litigation at the highest level. The firm is one of the few that has the capacity to litigate several complex tax controversy cases simultaneously, and indisputably belongs in the top rank. The blue-chip client list includes Abbot Laboratories, Nestlé Holdings, Tyco International, Motorola, Exelon, Ford and JPMorgan Chase. The Chicago office houses the core group, and there are also significant teams in New York, Palo Alto and Washington DC. The geographic location of individual lawyers does not seem to impact on the effective team building engendered by a collegiate culture, and some 90% of corporate tax instructions originate outside the firm’s perceived Chicago home-territory. Much of the departmental work is self-generated, although the importance of the support offered to other departments should not be underestimated. Joel Williamson in Chicago and Larry Langdon in Palo Alto, both impressive and experienced practitioners, spearhead the practice; they jointly led the team which successfully represented Consolidated Edison of New York in a dispute over the tax treatment of a complex “lease-in lease-out” (LILO) transaction concerning a power plant in the Netherlands; the Federal Court’s decision was handed down in October 2009. David Abbott, based in New York and credited with developing the effective inter-office infrastructure of the tax controversy practice, is handling LILO litigation on behalf of Wells Fargo Bank. William Schmalzl, another Chicago resident who excels at large business tax issues, and rated like Williamson as ‘an impressive tax litigator’, was one of the principals representing Flextronics in a case which will clarify whether the “business purpose test” for expenses deduction is applied to an entire transaction, or to each step that was taken to achieve the overall business purpose. In a strong team, other stand-outs in Chicago include Thomas Kittle-Kamp, ‘a very rare combination – a subtle courtroom advocate, and a real tax expert’, recommended for his expertise in international transfer pricing, particularly where intellectual property or other intangibles are involved, Thomas Durham, ‘a shrewd strategist’, handles both state and federal disputes and has a particular expertise in the not-for-profit sector and natural resources. Patricia Anne Rexford is expert in transfer pricing and foreign tax credit issues. In Washington DC, Charles Triplett, who was the architect of the advance pricing agreement program when with the IRS, is probably the most active lawyer in the US in advance pricing agreements and competent authority negotiations. Younger Chicago partners Scott Stewart and Daniel Dumezich have also established very strong reputations.