The Legal 500

Within Capital markets: debt offerings, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is a third tier firm,

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP’s capital markets practice is renowned for the quality of its issuer-side advice. Singled out for its ‘courteous service and professionalism’, the team of ‘strong and effective advocates’ has a very active debt offerings practice. The ‘very knowledgeable’ John Kennedy leads the team alongside the highly recommended Edwin Maynard. Recent highlights include Andrew Foley advising the Canadian Pacific Railway Company regarding a $350m offering of senior unsecured notes. Foley also represented Canadian energy company Harvest Operations in a $500m Rule 144A offering of senior notes, a transaction which illustrates the firm’s expertise in the natural resources sector. Maynard recently advised Teck Resources in a $700m senior unsecured notes offering. Raphael Russo also assisted Spectrum Brands in a $750m Rule 144A senior secured notes offering, while Lawrence Wee advised a North American apparel company in a $250m Rule 144A senior secured notes offering. On the underwriter side, Foley represented Citigroup Global Markets, JPMorgan Securities, RBC Capital Markets and RBS Securities in relation to the $600m notes offering by Talisman Energy. Providing an ‘excellent level of service’, the team is praised for its ‘industry and technical knowledge’ in addition to its ‘timeliness of response’. David Huntington is singled out for his expertise, and clients recommend the ‘pragmatic advice’ offered by the firm.

Within Capital markets: equity offerings, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is a third tier firm,

At Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, the team provides ‘quality and timely advice’ to issuer clients, and has a superb reputation in the area. With an ‘extremely high level of skill’, the group of ‘excellent attorneys’ is recommended for its ‘in-depth knowledge of market practices’. In a high-profile transaction, practice co-chair Edwin Maynard advised the Government of Canada regarding General Motors Company’s $23.1bn IPO of common stock and convertible preferred stock. The ‘particularly helpful’ Andrew Foley advised Ivanhoe Australia in a Section 4(2) Reg. D and Reg. S offering of A$250m of ordinary shares and options, and also represented MEG Energy, a Canadian Oil Sands company, in its IPO in Canada and Rule 144A private placement in the US for proceeds of C$700m. John Kennedy and David Huntington are advising asset management company The Aveon Group in its pending $200m IPO, while Raphael Russo represented Polo Ralph Lauren in a $730m secondary public offering. On the underwriter side, Tracey Zaccone is advising RBC Capital Markets and Lazard Capital markets as joint placement agents in connection with a technology company’s registered direct offering of common stock. Clients praise the ‘excellent, good-value legal advice’.

Within Capital markets: high-yield debt offerings, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is a third tier firm,

Described as a ‘terrific firm’ in terms of its securities practice, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP has a rapidly increasing profile in the high-yield debt space. The ‘skilled’ group is praised for its ability to ‘maintain professionalism when dealing with adversaries’. Acting predominantly for issuer clients, the team advised AbitibiBowater in a $850m Rule 144A offering of 10.25% senior secured notes, and also assisted Cleaver Brooks in a $185m Rule 144A offering of 12% senior secured second-lien notes: deals led by Lawrence Wee and Raphael Russo respectively. Russo also advised the Harbinger Group in a $350m senior secured notes offering. John Kennedy represented Interline Brands in a $150m Rule 144A offering of 7% senior subordinated notes, and, drawing on the firm’s private equity expertise, also advised Ply Gem Industries in a $150m Rule 144A offering of 13 1/8% senior subordinated notes. Andrew Foley and Tracey Zaccone are also recommended.

Within Corporate restructuring, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is a second tier firm,

A ‘go-to-firm in this area’, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP’s lean 31-lawyer team is ‘very knowledgeable about business-focused solutions and is intimately familiar with bankruptcy and procedural law’. A dominant force on the creditor side, the firm handles work for both bondholders and banks. ‘Particularly strong in committee representation’, the team recently represented the unsecured creditors’ committee in Tronox’s restructuring, as well as the ad-hoc committee of bondholders on GM’s Chapter 11 case. ‘Very accomplished at handling important, complex projects’, led by the ‘very knowledgeable, insightful, practical and focused’ Alan Kornberg, the team assisted the bondholders of the CIT Group in structuring $3bn in emergency financing, negotiating a pre-packaged reorganization plan to provide $4.5bn in Chapter 11 financing and restructuring approximately $33bn in debt. The firm’s ‘smart, creative, hardworking and dedicated’ lawyers also handle some fairly esoteric matters as demonstrated by its representation of Stuyvesant Town – Peter Cooper Village Tenants Association, in the financial restructuring of the ownership of Stuyvesant Town – Peter Cooper Village. Frequently working seamlessly with other practice groups at the firm, most importantly the tax team, the firm can also lay claim to an increasingly robust company-side offering. As well as its recent work on behalf on AbitibiBowater in its $8bn restructuring, the team is acting for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing on its restructuring. Led by Kornberg and Jeffrey Saferstein, this complex restructuring involved senior secured lenders converting more than half of their $4bn debt into equity and mezzanine lenders with $2.1bn of secured debt converting it all to equity. Stephen Shimshak is also a highly valued member of the team – particularly in cases likely to litigate – and is praised for his ‘technical excellence and excellent business acumen’.

Within Structured finance , tier 4

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is ‘excellent on all measures’ and ‘adds value to the transaction’. Jordan Yarrett heads the structured finance group, in which Robert Zochowski is ‘responsive, and provides sound technical advice backed by business judgment’. The firm was recently instructed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in several key issuances of structured sale guaranteed notes collateralized by underlying mortgage backed and commercial mortgage-backed securities. The asset-backed practice is noted for innovation in the more esoteric asset classes such as large whole business securitizations. In a representative unconventional deal, Zochowski advised the mezzanine investor in Digital Cinema Implementation Partners’ $660m financing of the installation of digital projectors in some 15,000 movie theaters across North America; the program is supported by exhibition payments from film studios. The team also advised Barclays Capital and Morgan Stanley in connection with a $355m offering of secured billboard revenue notes for Adams Outdoor Advertising. Manuel Frey is recommended for his work in the derivatives and synthetic products. All lawyers named are based in New York. Clients in the structured finance space include the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Baseball Finance and the US Department of Energy.

Within Copyright, tier 4

Providing a service that is a ‘cut above others’, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP has a six-partner copyright team in New York that offers deep litigation expertise for high-end clients. Music remains its specialist strength, where it has a particular focus advising industry associations and songwriters. Lynn Bayard and Jay Cohen are part of a media and entertainment-focused team, which successfully led for the NMPA, the Songwriters Guild of America and the Nashville Songwriters Association International in a case affirming favorable mechanical rate terms for physical products, downloads and ringtones. Bayard also represented the family of the creator of Alvin And The Chipmunks in a high-profile case against Twentieth Century Fox. Commercial litigator Leslie Gordon Fagen is an ‘excellent trial lawyer and general counselor’ with experience representing media and fashion industry clients. Fagen and Andrew Ehrlich (‘a very strong younger partner’) acted for MTV Networks in a case brought by the bankruptcy estate of Trans Continental Television Productions regarding copyright entitlement to television show Making The Band. Charles Googe handles a range of IP transactional issues including copyright counseling and licensing for clients in the corporate and entertainment sectors.

Within Alternative/hedge funds, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is a third tier firm,

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP has made a concerted effort to focus on high-value, large funds, eschewing cookie-cutter representations. Its strength in private equity is mirrored by its hedge fund capability, which affords the team the ability to work equally well on traditional or hybrid fund structures. It is ably supported by a leading investment management merger and acquisition team led by asset management M&A expert Robert Goldbaum. While sector consolidation and restructuring has been the order of the day since 2008, the tail end of 2010 saw a small rise in new fund formations, particularly for investments in distressed assets and Asian markets. The group advised Wellspring Capital Management on the formation and final closing of Wellspring Capital Partners V, with $1.2bn of capital commitments marking Wellspring’s largest fund to date. It also advised BlackRock on forming BlackRock Asian Credit Hedge Fund, which was formed to trade corporate bonds in Asia. Other fund clients include Blackstone Group, KPS Capital Partners and Clearlake Capital Group. Deputy corporate chair Marco Masotti and investment management practice head Robert Hirsh constitute ‘a formidable combination’ when it comes to hedge fund matters.

Within Private equity funds, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is a third tier firm,

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP has cultivated a high-end investment management practice that ‘is extremely responsive, adopts a creative approach to tax structuring issues and is particularly strong on the regulatory side’. While fund-related M&A remains core, it was on the fund formation side that the six-partner private equity practice was most active in 2010. It advised Wellspring Capital Management on the formation and final closing of Wellspring Capital Partners V, the client’s largest fund to date, with capital commitments totaling $1.2bn. It also advised KPS Capital Partners on forming KPS Special Situations Fund III (Supplemental), investing an aggregate amount of $2bn alongside the client’s second such fund. Other clients include The Sterling Group, Towerbrook Capital Partners and Quadrangle Group. Practice head Marco Masotti is ‘very knowledgeable about the private equity industry and what works in the market’, while clients note that this ‘excellent team’ is particularly adept at ‘watching out for the pitfalls that may lead to litigation’.

Within ERISA litigation , Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is a third tier firm,

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is a ‘terrific’ firm, which is ‘cost effective, and fields excellent talented lawyers’. Lewis Clayton ‘is one of the best’. ‘He is not just analytically smart, but also has sound judgment’, and is building a national reputation for the work he is undertaking in New York. Recently, he and his team achieved a victory for Citigroup, CGMI and certain Citigroup directors in a putative class action brought by current and former employees of Smith Barney alleging that certain provisions of their employment agreements with Smith Barney violated California’s Unfair Competition Law. The firm also advised Conexant, a semiconductor manufacturer, in an ERISA suit and securities fraud class action challenging disclosures related to the integration of an acquisition. In addition, the firm assisted AIG in an ERISA stock drop litigation that was settled and ING in an ERISA class action which is pending in federal court in New York.

Within International arbitration, tier 4

Clients are impressed by the ‘impeccable service’ afforded by the international arbitration team at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. Large commercial disputes and insurance matters are areas in which the firm excels. The practice is acting for Invar International in a Swiss arbitration against a Turkish partner concerning a joint venture to build two power plants in Moscow. It also represents a southeast asian mining joint venture involved in a significant dispute with the government, concerning required divestitures. Moses Silverman is ‘a brilliant lawyer who displays excellent knowledge’.

Within Leading trial lawyers,

Theodore Wells, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP: It is difficult to single out lawyers given the pedigree of the litigators at the firm, which include Jay Cohen, Kenneth Gallo, Brad Karp, Richard Rosen and Beth Wilkinson. As one client enthuses, ‘it provided the most excellent legal service I have ever seen in my 17 years of practice as a lawyer’. Still, few will dispute Theodore Wells’ pre-eminence, not only within his own firm, where he is co-chair of the litigation department, but across the entire US legal community. Few trial lawyers have caught the public imagination to such an extent, and this was in evidence when it came to Wells’ involvement in one of the most high profile trials in 2010/2011, the multibillion-dollar dispute between Citigroup and the UK private equity firm Terra Firma. Wells’ team successfully defended Citigroup against claims made by Terra Firma, and its chairman Guy Hands, that the bank defrauded Terra Firma in connection with its acquisition of the music company EMI in 2007. Following a twelve-day trial, the New York jury dismissed Terra Firma’s $7bn claim. Another highlight for Wells came with his successful defense of two cases filed against Exxon Mobil alleging complicity in human rights violations in Indonesia.

Within Securities: shareholder litigation, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is a first tier firm,

Praised for its ‘invaluable experience in high-stakes cases’, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP has a superb reputation, particularly for representing financial institutions. ‘Excellent in all areas’, the ‘top-tier’ group, which includes the ‘very bright, incredibly responsive’ firm chair Brad Karp, boasts a string of first class litigators. Among them, Richard Rosen is ‘a brilliant analytical lawyer who consistently obtains outstanding results for his clients. A pleasure to work with’, while Dan Kramer is a ‘good writer, good oral advocate, well organised, and knows this area of the law backwards and forwards’. Unsurprisingly, given the firm’s client-base, the fallout from the financial crisis has dominated much of the workload. Highlights included representing Bank of America on claims brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in relation to the bank’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch. The settlement eventually achieved required the bank to pay $150m into a fair fund for distribution to shareholders and to undertake a number of remedial actions. The firm also achieved a significant victory for Citigroup, Citigroup Global Markets and former officers and employees in relation to investments made into a collateralized debt consolidation underwritten by the bank. The court ultimately dismissed all of the plaintiffs’ claims. The firm is also representing JPMorgan Chase on a range of major disputes arising out of the financial crisis, particularly relating to the mortgage-backed securities. Major issuer clients include Merck, Ericsson and Paramount Pictures Corporation.

Within White-collar criminal defense , Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is a first tier firm,

‘Undoubtedly one of the leading firms in the white-collar area’, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP’s nine-partner team is ‘highly experienced, exceptionally bright, creative and hardworking’. Benefiting from a ‘deep knowledge of the financial services industry and extensive experience in white-collar cases in that sector’, the practice has benefited from the ever increasing scrutiny placed on the industry whether it be in relation to tax fraud, securities fraud, insider-trading or stock market manipulation. Able to successfully co-ordinate the civil, criminal, regulatory and congressional aspects of a matter, the firm has ‘invaluable experience in high-risk cases’. Recent highlights include successfully representing Citigroup in a case brought by London-based private equity sponsor Terra Firma alleging that Citigroup had tricked Terra Firma into overbidding for EMI. The team also represented Fitch Ratings, one of the three national ratings agencies, in reaching an industry-wide settlement with the New York Attorney General relating to the ratings of non-prime residential mortgage-backed securities. ‘Remarkably successful trial lawyer’ Theodore Wells led on the aforementioned Citigroup matter and also has a tremendous track-record of representing political figures in jury trials. Indeed, it is the firm’s willingness to take matters to trial that sets it apart from some other New York-based outfits who offer a more conciliatory approach. The ‘very wise and experienced’ Mark Pomerantz is ‘regularly involved in bet-the-company matters’ and has been particularly active recently handling a tremendous range of matters within the financial services industry, including securities fraud, mail and wire fraud and tax offenses. The work handled by the team is, however, by no means limited to issues affecting the financial services industry. Other areas of strength include FCPA matters and issues affecting the pharmaceutical industry. Notably, the firm successfully represented Merck in connection with an SEC investigation into its public disclosure relating to Vioxx. Other recommended partners include the ‘top-notch and deeply experienced’ Martin Flumenbaum and up-and-comer Roberto Finzi.

Within Telecoms and broadcast: transactional, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is a second tier firm,

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP’s small telecoms group acts predominantly on satellite deals, supported by the firm’s strong corporate practice and international presence. Communications partner Patrick Campbell has an excellent reputation for representing satellite operators, both on corporate issues and before the FCC. He has acted on a long list of industry leading transactions for prestigious clients, notably IntelSat. Together with James Schwab, chair of the firm’s media and entertainment group, he advised Sony Corporation on a broadband-related joint venture. Other highlights included advising longstanding client Ericsson in its acquisitions of Nortel Networks’ Global System for Mobile businesses and Multi-Service Switch business, complementing the $1.1bn acquisition of Nortel’s CDMA and LTE businesses in 2009. The team increased its activity in cable and broadcast. Henk Brands successfully represented Time Warner Cable before the FCC against claims by WealthTV that Time Warner Cable discriminated against it in violation of the Communications Act and FCC rules. The group also advised Time Warner Cable in connection with its additional $1.56bn equity investment in Clearwire Corporation. Clients include BT, Cablevision Systems, Soros Funds, Sprint Nextel and Tower.

Within Antitrust, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is a second tier firm,

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP’s compact antitrust team is recommended for its ‘excellent response times’ and ‘strong industry knowledge’, and has built a solid reputation based on quality rather than quantity of work. Practice co-head Joseph Simons, a former chief antitrust enforcer at the FTC, has a ‘great knowledge of the law combined with very good contacts at the relevant agencies’, and regularly advises the government and economists on merger review issues. Simons’ recent work includes representing Agrium during its hostile bid for CF Industries Holdings, which was the subject of a lengthy investigation prior to conditional approval, and The Lightstone Group in connection with the $2.3bn disposal of its portfolio company, Prime Outlets Acquisition Company, to Simon Property Group. Other work for the team included coordinating the EU and Canadian investigations for Hewitt Associates on its $4.5bn acquisition by Aon Corporation, where the transaction was closed without a second request. Kenneth Gallo, managing partner in Washington DC, is a highly recommended litigator who recently acted for American International Group (AIG) to secure Third Circuit affirmation of a District Court’s dismissal of an antitrust and RICO class action alleging an industry-wide market allocation conspiracy regarding commercial and employee benefits insurance. Other clients include MasterCard, News Corporation and The Nielson Company. Moses Silverman co-heads the practice and leads the New York team.

Within M&A: mega-deals ($5bn+), Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is a third tier firm,

For one corporate counsel, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is ‘superior to other firms that overstaff their transactions and are not commercially practical. Its lawyers are also hardworking and intelligent’. Recently, the practice has been especially active in helping clients take advantage of recovering markets. Highlights included representing The Lightstone Group in connection with the $2.3bn disposition of portfolio company Prime Outlets Acquisition Company to Simon Property Group, advising Oak Hill Capital Partners in its divestiture of Duane Reade Holdings to Walgreen’s in a cash transaction for a total enterprise value of $1.075bn, and representing Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co and General Atlantic in their $1.65bn acquisition of TASC, an engineering and technical assistance business, from Northrop Grumman. The practice acted for Universal American when it announced that it had entered into an agreement with CVS Caremark (CVS) for CVS to acquire the Medicare Part D business of UAM for approximately $1.25bn. The acquisition will more than double the size of CVS’s Medicare Part D Program, making CVS one of the nation’s largest providers of prescription drug services for Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Part D. Corporate chair Robert Schumer acted for Agrium in its hostile bid for CF Industries Holdings, and assisted Elliott Associates in connection with its $1.8bn acquisition of Novell, a leader in intelligent workload management. Co-M&A head Paul Ginsberg advised private equity fund General Atlantic in connection with the recently announced $1.86bn acquisition of First Republic Bank from Bank of America and co-M&A head Toby Myerson advised Citigroup in the acquisition of Nikko Cordial in a cash tender offer followed by a stock-for-stock exchange for $14bn and three subsequent divestiture transactions. Matthew Abbott is ‘the complete athlete. He is a problem solver and a great lawyer’.

Within Private equity buyouts, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is a third tier firm,

‘Best in the business’ Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP had a ‘watershed year’ in 2010. Having built on its fertile relationship with cornerstone client General Atlantic over many years, the firm has broken into the high-value category with transactions for major funds such as Apollo Management and KKR. The firm’s recent deals list is nothing short of impressive, having represented General Atlantic as co-lead investor in the $1.86bn acquisition of San Francisco-based First Republic Bank. It also advised Centerview Capital Partners, as co-lead investor, in the $5.3bn acquisition of Del Monte Foods, and acted for KKR and General Atlantic in their $1.65bn acquisition of TASC from Northrop Grumman. The firm has ‘grown up with the private equity industry’ and has a clear ‘strategic focus’ on the sector, enabling a ‘great depth of industry knowledge’. As a result, it ‘understands the risk tolerances and objectives’ of its ‘blue-chip client list’. It has a ‘deep bench’ of partners and associates and has proven willing to ‘invest in this sector’. Healthcare is a sector that has been particularly active for the practice, with a series of deals on behalf of core client Oak Hill Capital. The firm is also well known for its expertise in distressed M&A, with a number of deals for KPS Capital Partners in this segment. New York-based Kenneth Schneider and Carl Reisner have a particularly strong record in this area. The firm is also particularly active worldwide, with a notably leading practice in Asia where it represents many of the biggest global buyout funds. Other key partners include regular advisers to General Atlantic Matthew Abbott, a ‘rising star’, ‘incredible deal feel’, ‘outstanding legal and business acumen’ and ‘very creative’, Paul Ginsberg and frequent Oak Hill Capital counsel Angelo Bonvino. Tarun Stewart, who is a ‘superb lawyer’, ‘provides candid and unvarnished advice’ and ‘excellent client service’, is also recommended.

Within Real estate, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is a second tier firm,

At Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, the highly regarded Steven Simkin heads an ‘excellent’, five-partner team based in New York that advises clients on deals in various states, including New York, Ohio, Texas, California and Tennessee. The team exhibits ‘strong industry knowledge’. The ‘very analytically minded’ Peter Fisch represented Prime Outlets Acquisition Company, a portfolio company of The Lightstone Group, on the $2.3bn sale of its outlet shopping center business to Simon Property Group. Harris Freidus acted for joint venture owners of the iconic Fontainebleau Miami Beach Hotel on its out-of-court $840m restructuring settlement. Simkin and Fisch recently represented SL Green Realty Corporation on a $500m transaction involving a joint venture recapitalization of the office building at 1775 Broadway, a site also known as 3 Columbus Circle. Simkin and Fisch also represented Citigroup Global Markets in litigation against subsidiaries of The Pyramid Companies concerning mortgage and mezzanine loans secured by the Carousel Center Mall in Syracuse, New York. Meredith Kane acted for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority on a $1bn deal involving the sale of airspace over its 26-acre West Side Railyards. The firm also represented Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center regarding its proposed development of a large and unique facility for New York State’s first proton center to treat cancer patients.

Within Domestic tax: East Coast, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is a second tier firm,

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP’s tax practice offers ‘outstanding responsiveness, an intelligent, practical, and insightful approach, and terrific domain expertise’. Richard Bronstein, ‘a leader in the field – there is no better adviser for a private equity firm in its tax issues’, and Jeffrey Samuels, ‘an impressive tax expert who is also pleasant to work with’, co-chair the New York tax department, which has significant national penetration. Lawyers recommended include David Sicular, who is ‘very knowledgeable, detail-oriented and gives a quick response time’, and David Mayo, who is ‘creative and knows the fund industry very well’. Alan Halperin, a specialist in trust, estate and family succession planning, is ‘an excellent attorney who provides a comprehensive analysis of the issues’. The team recently handled the tax aspects of the Chapter 11 reorganization of Charter Communications, and the spin out of Trilantic Capital Partners from Lehman Brothers Merchant Banking. Peter Rothenberg led the tax work for AbitibiBowater, the world’s largest producer of newsprint, in connection with the company’s complex US and Canadian bankruptcy filings. Clients include Citigroup, the Weinstein Company, Automatic Data Processing, Time Warner and Eton Park Capital.

Within Employee benefits and executive compensation, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is a second tier firm,

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is ‘a terrific firm, better and more efficient than most – it provides excellent legal advice for good value’. Robert Fleder chairs the New York-based practice which offers a very broad-skill set and exceptional experience in instructions, including public and private corporate transactions, executive compensation arrangements and support of ERISA litigation. The highly rated Lawrence Witdorchic assisted recently formed investment firm Aveon Management to create a management incentive plan unique to a publicly traded partnership, and to design new employment agreements and restricted unit equity awards for top management. Robert Fleder helped to develop replacement employee benefit programs for some 5,000 professionals when General Atlantic Partners and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts acquired defense engineering contractor TASC from Northrop Grumman. Practice clients include Harbinger Capital Partners, Oaktree Capital Management, Citigroup and AbitibiBowater.

Within International, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is a third tier firm,

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP’s New York-based US tax lawyers are ‘savvy, sophisticated and practical, and very well versed on international tax issues’, and work closely with the London, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Beijing offices, expertly handling M&A transactions and multinational restructuring. Tax department co-chair Richard Bronstein is ‘a leader in the field; he has the ability to assess risk, and is very creative in structuring and driving value’. In a recent instruction, a team led by Jeff Samuels acted as international tax counsel to Shanghai Shendi Group, a new company set by the Shanghai government, in its joint venture contract with the Walt Disney Company to build its first mainland China theme park. David Sicular is recommended for his knowledge of the Canadian tax system and the US/Canada tax treaty. Clients include Viacom, Time Warner, Harbinger Capital and Discovery Communications.