The Legal 500

Within Insurance: advice to insurers, Troutman Sanders is a third tier firm,

Troutman Sanders has separate groups covering D&O and professional liability matters, and insurance and reinsurance, and it achieves ‘exceptional results’; a ‘distinguishing factor is the consistency of its work among all the different attorneys’. Chair of the insurance and reinsurance group Rebecca Ross is ‘an exceptional litigator whose “in court” presence and credibility have allowed her to win important cases’; and co-chair of the D&O and professional liability group John (Jack) Gerstein is ‘an aggressive litigator and exceptional trial lawyer’. In 2010 the California team acquired Louise McCabe, formerly of Nixon Peabody LLP. The firm was lead counsel for CNA and a joint defense group in Congoleum Corp v Ace American Insurance Co, relating to Congoleum’s $500m agreement with claimants for asbestos exposure that led to its filing of a pre-packaged bankruptcy. It is also representing CNA in John Crane Inc v Admiral Ins Co, a complex coverage dispute involving nearly 250,000 underlying asbestos claims and spanning nearly six years, currently on appeal to the Illinois Appellate Court. Gary Dixon is recommended for his D&O and professional liability expertise.

Within Immigration, tier 4

Troutman Sanders assists with the transfer of international business personnel for US and foreign companies, the defense of corporations charged with employer sanction violations, training of HR personnel, the acquisition of work visas, labor certification, permanent resident status, and citizenship in the United States, as well as the representation of corporate clients and individuals before various administrative agencies and in the federal courts. Clients include WorldSpan, Holiday Inn, Takahashi Works, TRAX and Mitsubishi. Mark Newman heads the team from Atlanta. He served as lead counsel in the federal class action proceedings to acquire lawful permanent residence for more than 100,000 Cubans. Newman is a member of the AILA, where he served as chairman of the Atlanta district director’s liaison committee. In New York, Susie Kim represents members of the multinational business community in bringing employees into the US and establishing new business enterprises in the US. Virginia Beach-based partner Thomas Klein specializes in government agency law and relations, including general immigration matters. He formerly served as general counsel to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and has specific and in-depth knowledge of consular processing and State Department procedures.

Within M&A: middle-market (sub-$500m), tier 4

Troutman Sanders’ ‘impressive and dedicated’ practice group assists clients in structuring, negotiating and implementing business transactions in the US, Europe and Asia. The practice acted in the acquisition of selected operations of the nation’s largest convention center telecommunications company by a South Carolina-based telecommunications provider, advised in the $202.5m acquisition of a North Texas electric utility company by a New Mexico energy holding company, and represented a New Mexico utility in its sale of its natural gas operations to a utility holding company with natural gas operations in Alaska and Michigan. Virginia Beach-based James Wheaton regularly advises private equity firms in middle-market acquisitions. Wheaton has also advised a Scandinavian public company in the divestiture of a major subsidiary to a US public company, assisted a public company in a going-private transaction involving multiple stockholder classes, and acted in both the sale and acquisition of network affiliate television stations. In Richmond, Mason Bayler represented a public utility company in connection with its $867m sale to a private equity firm.