The Legal 500

Within Corporate tax, tier 4

McDermott Will & Emery UK LLP has a strong name in tax matters, especially at the interface between the US and UK tax sectors. Areas of key expertise include transfer pricing, IP, restructuring and M&A. It acted for Barnes Group on the tax aspects of the divestiture of some of their European businesses. Tom Scott is ‘very strong and experienced’, and James Ross ‘gives comprehensive technical, but also practical, advice’. Peter Nias left for Pump Court Tax Chambers.

Within M&A: mid-market, £50m-£250m, McDermott Will & Emery UK LLP is a second tier firm,

McDermott Will & Emery UK LLP’s ‘extremely efficient and responsive’ seven-partner team is noted for its ability to ‘adopt a lean staffing structure malleable to particular client needs’. In a reflection of the firm’s strength in energy and commodities matters, 2011 saw the team act for Gunvor Group in its purchase of a $400m share in the Signal Peak coal mine in Montana. Nick Azis has ‘a wealth of experience as well as practical business sense’.

Within Private equity: transactions, tier 7

McDermott Will & Emery UK LLP’s offering was strengthened by the recent arrival of Mark Davis and Russell Van Praagh from Dewey and LeBoeuf LLP.

Within Commodities: derivatives, McDermott Will & Emery UK LLP is a third tier firm,

McDermott Will & Emery UK LLP’s David Birchall is ‘a seasoned lawyer with a strong physical commodities background who can assist with the more complex derivatives structures’. ‘Reliable and approachable, thorough but to the point’, the team advises leading banks and energy traders.

Within Commodities: physicals, McDermott Will & Emery UK LLP is a second tier firm,

McDermott Will & Emery UK LLP ‘provides good detail and context behind issues, giving the client the ability to make the correct decisions’, and has one of the world’s leading energy practices. David Birchall, Rashpaul Bahia (‘always clear and straightforward’) and Prajakt Samant have ‘in-depth subject matter expertise and the ability to give good, honest advice’. The team advised on the physical commodities aspects of Gunvor’s $400m purchase of a share in Signal Peak coalmine, and PetroChina and RWE Energy Trading are also clients.

Within Employment: employees/unions Leading individuals: Employment

Within Employment: employers and senior executives, tier 4

McDermott Will & Emery UK LLP has a ‘flexible and commercially aware’ team. It assisted FILA Korea and Mirae Asset Private Equity on the $1.225bn acquisition of the Acushnet golf business from Fortune Brands, an award-winning deal involving discrimination claims following the wind-down of parts of FILA’s UK operations. Katie Clark and Sharon Tan are highly recommended.

Within Personal tax, trusts and probate, tier 4

McDermott Will & Emery UK LLP is ‘capable of handling the most complex cross-border transactions’. Martyn Gowar heads a team with impressive US/UK capabilities. Peter Nias is a ‘first-rate negotiator’.

Within Oil and gas, tier 4

McDermott Will & Emery UK LLP is advising an oil major in relation to the financing of the Chad/Cameroon pipeline. Rashpaul Bahia is recommended

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

David Birchall and Andrew Watson at McDermott Will & Emery UK LLP were part of a cross-office team which advised Ener-g on CHT power projects in the UK, Italy, Greece, Spain and the US. Birchall is ‘very commercial and knowledgeable’.

Within Data protection, tier 4

McDermott Will & Emery UK LLP provides ‘refreshingly commercial advice’, and has ‘impressive pan-industry knowledge’ on cross-border matters for life sciences and healthcare clients. European practice head Rohan Massey’s ‘sound understanding of US data privacy is an asset rarely found in the City. He speaks with real, raw, commercial experience’.

Within Intellectual property, tier 4

McDermott Will & Emery UK LLP’s Hiroshi Sheraton, who focuses on the life sciences sector, recently advised Novartis in cross-border patent disputes and co-led with Rohan Massey on the successful representation of the claimant in 32Red v William Hill. Sheraton has also been working as part of a cross-office team on shape trade mark issues, while Massey focuses on commercial IP matters. Gary Moss moved to EIP.

Within Pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, tier 4

Hiroshi Sheraton and Rohan Massey co-head the IP group at McDermott Will & Emery UK LLP, and handle patent litigation and data protection matters. Key clients include Novartis, Merge Healthcare and Amgen. IP litigator Gary Moss left for patent attorney firm EIP.