The Legal 500

Within Corporate restructuring, tier 5

Although it lacks the size of some of its peers in the market, Allen & Overy LLP more than makes up for it in its ability to handle complex and often cutting-edge mandates. Sitting within the firm’s wider 14-partner banking group, the group provides ‘responsive, efficient and extremely knowledgeable advice’ to a predominantly creditor-focused client base. The firm’s ‘deep experience in derivatives and financial markets’ sees the team regularly engaged in sophisticated and complex mandates for financial institutions such as Barclays, HSBC, JPMorgan and UBS. Indeed, it recently acted for UBS as agent for senior lenders under a $650m senior secured credit facility on Almatis’ restructuring. Able to tap into the firm’s massive international footprint, unsurprisingly the practice is regularly involved in cross-border matters and has stood at the vanguard of the implementation of Chapter 15 in the context of cross-border mandates. It is advising the provisional liquidator of British American Isle of Venice (BVI), a company incorporated under the laws of the British Virgin Islands, with respect to the commencement of Chapter 15 proceedings in Florida. The firm’s close ties with the “Big Four” accountancy firms provides a steady flow of work on the debtor side, including as US counsel to Ernst & Young, as foreign representative of Nortel Networks and certain affiliates in their CCAA proceedings in Toronto. Praised for his ‘excellent bedside manner and good strategic thinking’, department head Ken Coleman ‘can always be relied upon to deliver without a lot of ego or drama’. Other key members of the team include the ‘very detailed and thorough’ Elizabeth Leckie, Stephen Doody, who is praised for his ‘excellent industry knowledge’ in relation to insurance insolvencies, and Daniel Guyder, who ‘possesses a strong practical insight into the workings of the financial markets, and sound commercial judgment’.

Within Project finance, Allen & Overy LLP is a second tier firm,

Allen & Overy LLP has a ‘very efficient’ practice, with the ability ‘to get the job done’. On a global basis, the firm is at the forefront of the project finance sector, and while the US arm of the practice cannot be said to be the largest, it is growing in stature and has notably aimed to increase its presence in the PPP sector, with Andrew Fraiser having moved from London to New York, bringing with him a wealth of knowledge and experience in the arena. Renewables have also proved an area of growth for the firm, which has also been appointed to several government and other panels, and undertakes a high volume of work for the Department of Energy. Domestically, the group acted on the Denver Fastracks Light Rail Project, a significant rail transit PPP deal, for two short-listed bidder groups. Fraiser is leading a team advising the Virginia Department of Transportation in its procurement of a long-term concession to design, build, finance and operate a 55-mile toll road in the state, at an expected cost of $2bn; and he has also been advising a consortium on its bid for the Surrey Pre-trial correctional facility project in British Columbia, Canada. The group has an enviable record in Latin American transactions, and well-respected department head Robert Kartheiser divides his time between New York and São Paulo. Examples include the El Boleo mining project, where the team acted for the sponsors on the $858m greenfield project in Baja, Mexico, in a transaction involving the largest-ever mining loan by the US Ex-Im Bank; and The Oleoducto de Bicentenerio pipeline project, where the team is advising Ecopetrol on the construction and operation of this $5bn private pipeline in Colombia. Clients are effusive in their praise of several individuals: Charles Williams is ‘very effective and capable’; David Slade is ‘excellent’; Robert Kartheiser always provides a team of ‘outstanding and dedicated lawyers’; David Horner is an ‘expert in federal matters’; Mitchell Silk is adept at private equity related work; and ‘incredibly intelligent’ senior counsel Dorina Yessios receives particular mention from many clients.

Within Structured finance , tier 6

Allen & Overy LLP is ‘rebuilding its ABS practice in the US’ according to clients. Lawton Camp has been joined by senior counsel John Hwang from Bingham McCutchen LLP, who is commended for ‘client service, his ability to explain complex issues, in an understandable manner, and impressive technical expertise’.