The Legal 500

Within M&A: middle-market (sub-$500m), McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP is a first tier firm,

McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP provides ‘excellent service that goes beyond expectations. It out-thinks and out-performs its opponents consistently, remaining one step ahead at all times and producing remarkable results’. Fielding ‘courteous and competent counsel’, the practice has significant experience in domestic and international transactions involving publicly owned and privately held businesses in a wide variety of industries. It saw an uptick in deals during the last quarter of 2010, with recent work frequently emerging from the UK, as well as Canada. Industry Canada was assisted in connection with the court-supervised sale of a majority interest in General Motors to the US Department of Treasury, in which the Canadian government (along with the government of Ontario) provided a $9.5bn loan to the new General Motors. As part of the transaction, the government of Canada also acquired an equity investment in the new entity. The firm is noted for its strengths in the defense and aerospace sectors, as well as healthcare, biotechnology and energy. Additionally, the corporate department has an active cross-border transactions practice, with particular strength in the financial institutions and payments area. Anchored in Atlanta and Brussels, this team has focused on payment systems transactions for more than twenty years with extensive global experience, including US-trained lawyers who have had multi-year assignments in Europe while with the firm, some of whom are qualified members of the bar in England and Belgium. Other highlights for the firm included representing Just Energy in its acquisition of Hudson Energy Services, the company’s first significant acquisition in the US, and advising the Affiliated Transactions Committee and the independent directors of CCE in the sale of its North American operations to The Coca-Cola Company. The team also represented Capital City Technologies in its sale to Ernst & Young, and was counsel to Elavon Financial Services, a regulated Irish credit institution, in the acquisition of the Diners Club International merchant acquiring business from Citibank affiliates in Belgium, France, Germany, Republic of Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland and the UK. The ‘thorough’ corporate department chair Wayne Bradley is ‘responsive, intelligent and pragmatic’. Senior counsel Clay Long is ‘an absolutely great negotiator and strategic thinker.’ Long is also ‘brutally ethical and always available’. David Brown is ‘intellectually thorough, a quick learner and quietly strong’, his ‘follow-up is excellent and his research phenomenal’.

Within Construction (including construction litigation), tier 5

McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP primarily handles construction work out of its San Diego office and is bolstered by a strong presence in Atlanta. The firm handles all aspects of federal and state public projects, as well as commercial and private work for a variety of clients. The firm expanded in 2009 through the absorption of real estate and litigation lawyers from Brown Winfield Canzoneri Abram Inc, who now work closely with the construction team. Mark Budwig heads the construction group, and has focused on construction litigation for more than 20 years, representing design professionals, contractors, subcontractors and owners. In 2010, he successfully defended San Diego County Water Authority in $20m worth of claims asserted by a design-build contractor relating to the construction the $100m Twin Oaks Valley Water Treatment Plant. Penny Pittman Cobey is recommended for her expertise in public-private partnerships and transactional construction matters.

Within Land use/zoning , McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP is a second tier firm,

McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP has a substantial concentration of lawyers handling land use law in California and Atlanta. The firm represents LNR properties and Hopkins Real Estate Group on land use matters, including defending entitlements challenged under CEQA for a public-private partnership to create Boulevards at South Bay in Carson; the project, which includes $120m of public funding, proposes to build up to 2 million sq ft of commercial space and 1,550 residential units. Practice head Tony Canzoneri and Atlanta partner Sharon Gay are recommended.

Within Real estate, tier 4

William Timmons chairs the 26-partner real estate group at McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP, which is based in Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York and Washington DC. This ‘especially strong team’ is ‘very timely and thorough’, and is ‘professional, reasonable and very committed to serving its clients’. The group is ‘excellent on the commercial real estate loan workout’ front, and represents special servicers and lenders all over the US. Timmons led a team that represented syndicate leader KeyBank National Association in the amendment and restatement of a large senior-secured revolving credit facility to Ramco-Gershenson Properties. Jess Pinkerton acted for Retreat Holdings, a developer of student housing projects, on multiple acquisition, development and construction transactions ranging from $16m to $42m. The team is also handling the roll out of Fresh & Easy, a subsidiary of British retailer Tesco, involving the opening of over 160 stores in central and southern California, Arizona and Nevada. Tony Canzoneri and Steven Abram led a team that represented LNR Property Corporation in a PPP and joint venture project involving a long-term lease on an undeveloped site in California.

Within Domestic tax: East Coast, tier 6

McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP’s Atlanta-based tax group now ranks as a stand-alone ‘best in the business’ practice as well as providing expert support to the corporate and restructuring departments. Russell Love, head of the firm’s tax, estate and probate group ‘has a great bedside manner and provides support beyond a business relationship’. Love is recommended for US and international tax planning, and Mark Lange is ‘an extremely good attorney for complex tax matters’. In a confidential 2010 instruction, the team served as outside general counsel and special tax counsel to a large health-sector non-profit organization to structure its tax-efficient entry into a for-profit trading partnership. Practice clients include Altadis USA, Balfour Beatty Communities, Delta Air Lines and Valor Equity Partners.