The Legal 500

Within Corporate tax

Within M&A - lower mid-marketdeals, £50m-£250m, tier 6

Stuart Harray is the only UK-qualified M&A partner at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP, and works in tandem with US-qualified Tom Siebens. They predominantly act for financial institutions on high-value M&A.

Within Outsourcing and procurement, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP is a second tier firm,

Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP has a strong outsourcing practice led by Laurence Jacobs, who has ‘unbeatable experience and knows just what makes a particular strategy successful’, and has recently worked with the NHS, Reed Elsevier, Invensys and ProSieben. Other notable recent work includes asset management outsourcing advice for JPMorgan, Citibank and Mellon. Sean Keaton advised AstraZeneca on its global applications maintenance outsourcing, and is ‘always able to provide top-quality service and a personable approach’.

Within Private equity

Within Commercial litigation,

DLA Piper UK LLP’s active team is very well regarded in the market, and includes a selection of first-class partners, including Neil Gerard, David Gray, Janet Legrand and Ioannis Alexopoulos. Highlights include representing EDS in defending £700m-worth of claims for breach of contract, negligence and deceit. Other major clients include Barclays Bank, Cable & Wireless, the Republic of Zambia, and UBS. Julian Stait has moved to Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP.

Within Acquisition finance, tier 5

Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP’s Suhrud Mehta is ‘very good and very sharp’.

Within Derivatives and structured products, tier 5

Clients are eager to recommend the ‘superior’ service of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP. James Warbey and John Walker have been busy with workouts of derivatives trades, and SIV restructurings including Cheyne and Whistlejacket.

Within High yield, tier 4

Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP has ties to JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, though progress in this market will depend on its response to high yield specialist Kevin Muzilla leaving the firm in early 2009.

Within Islamic finance, tier 4

Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP’s project finance practice is experienced in shari’ah-compliant financing for clients including National Commercial Bank and Riyad Bank. John Dewar is recommended.

Within Securitisation, tier 5

The ‘go-to’ team of James Warbey and John Walker at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP has worked on many SIV restructurings, acting for senior creditors’ committees in relation to Cheyne, Orion and Whistlejacket.

Within Infrastructure, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP is a second tier firm,

Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP specialises in advising lenders on big-ticket project financings; for some it is ‘the best lender’s counsel in the market’. From London, Phill Fletcher’s team is active across Europe and the Middle East, and in a major highlight represented a consortium of equity investors on the £1.5bn acquisition of Porterbrook Leasing Company, the major rolling stock leasing company. John Dewar ‘has the ability to explain complicated legal subjects in simple terms’.

Within Mining and minerals, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP is a first tier firm,

Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP’s London team attracts high praise for its mining expertise, particularly advising lenders. Phillip Fletcher’s team specialises in advising the lenders on complex projects but also handles high-end corporate work. Standout projects include advising the lenders on a US$1bn potash mine and processing plant in the Republic of Congo. Cathy Marsh is ‘fantastic - a real tower of strength in this area’.

Within Oil and gas, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP is a third tier firm,

Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP ‘takes time to grapple with the issues and always comes out on top’. Highlights include advising all of the lenders on the US$2.5bn financing of the new Yemen LNG plant and associated infrastructure - the largest-ever limited recourse financing of a project in Yemen. Phill Fletcher and John Dewar are ‘knowledgeable and easy to deal with’; the firm ‘has lenders’ counsel down to a fine art’.

Within Overview,

Magic Circle firms Allen & Overy LLP, Clifford Chance and Linklaters LLP continue to rank prominently throughout this chapter, with excellent links with both banks and sponsors. However a selection of US-based projects powerhouses have given the London-based firms a real jolt in recent years; White & Case LLP, Latham & Watkins and Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP most notably have gained real pedigree in the market.

Within Power (including electricity, nuclear and renewables) , Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP is a third tier firm,

Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP’s geographical reach wins praise from clients; it is ‘a top-five firm for Middle East IWPP work’, ‘a big name in emerging markets’ and ‘top lenders’ counsel anywhere’. Aside from its lender work, highlights included advising the borrower on the US$446m refinancing of the Sohar IWPP Project, and advising the sponsors on the development and financing of the US$2.5bn Al Dur IWPP in Bahrain.

Within Water, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP is a third tier firm,

Project finance powerhouse Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP acted for the consortium in the US$408m financing for the construction of two waste water treatment plants in the UAE, and also represented the lenders on the US$4.1m Marafiq Jubail IWPP in Saudi Arabia. John Dewar is praised for his ‘ability to explain in simple terms’.

Within Intellectual property, tier 6

Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP’s IP practice has the ‘particular and unusual strength of coming into existing litigation, particularly in heavy technical patent cases before the European Patent Office, and using their litigation experience and saviness to take the case forward in a new way, resulting in victory for the client’. David Perkins is a ‘huge asset’, and heads a team that has been acting for ImClone Systems Inc in a multi-jurisdictional inventorship dispute.

Within IT and telecoms, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP is a third tier firm,

DLA Piper UK LLP’s national approach and ‘precise understanding of where the pinch points are on a large IT deal’ contributed to a series of significant roles, most notably in the public sector where it acted for the Pensions Regulator on a multi-vendor IT programme. ‘One of the top legal advisers available’, group head Kit Burden had a strong year, including advising RBS/ABN AMRO on the renegotiation of a large-scale ITO contract. Mark Critchard acts on a range of public projects, as well as advising leading financial services clients and providing ‘extremely competent and dedicated counsel’. However, litigation partner Julian Stait moved to Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP and UK telecoms head Purvi Parekh joined Olswang.

Within IT and telecoms, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP is a third tier firm,

Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP’s IT practice, headed by Laurence Jacobs, stands out for its ITO expertise. Advising primarily on the user side, both in conjunction with and separate from its US counterparts, the group recently acted on large projects for NYSE Euronext, Barclays and AstraZeneca. Julian Stait recently joined the practice from DLA Piper UK LLP, while Sean Keaton is also recommended.

Within Overview,

Many of the US firms have also been growing their IT and telecoms practices. These include Latham & Watkins - also building its media and entertainment team; Morrison & Foerster (UK) LLP - also a leader for life sciences corporate work; and Mayer Brown International LLP - which has lost music industry veteran Robert Allan to niche media firm Michael Simkins LLP. Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP remains very strong at providing IT and telecoms outsourcing advice; and Weil, Gotshal & Manges and Covington & Burling LLP - which is extremely strong in life sciences - have been building their media and entertainment practices.