The Legal 500

Within Capital markets: debt offerings , tier 4

DLA Piper’s capital markets capability spans several offices across the US and covers both investment-grade and high-yield debt offerings. Christopher Paci heads up the team from New York, which saw recent expansion in 2012 with the arrivals of David Luce, formerly in the fixed income division of Credit Suisse, and Jeffrey Potash, who joined from Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP. Jamie Knox is singled out for his knowledge. On the issuer side, Potash led in advising Central Media European Enterprises on a €104m Rule 144A high-yield debt offering, and assisted its Czech subsidiary company on a €70m Rule 144A senior secured notes offering. Gregory Hayes in Chicago advised Equity Residential Public on its $1bn public offering of 4.625% notes due 2021. Elsewhere, Jack Kantrowitz acted as designated underwriters’ counsel in France Telecom’s public debt offering of aggregate amount $2.9bn, and Baltimore-based Jason Harmon acted for the underwriters, including JPMorgan and Bank of Merrill Lynch, in a $950m investment-grade senior notes offering by Marriott International. From Washington DC, Eric Geppert advised Scripps Networks Interactive on its inaugural $500m offering of investment-grade public debt. Gianluca Bacchiocchi in Chicago also represented Bank of America Merrill Lynch as counsel in a $230m Reg. S offering of project bonds to finance several medical facilities in Peru: this was the first public health infrastructure project in Peru to be financed through the capital markets.

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Within Capital markets: equity offerings , tier 4

DLA Piper’s capital markets team handles both issuer and underwriter-side offerings, and recently represented Dividend Capital Diversified Property Fund with its registration of common shares worth $3bn, in an ongoing best efforts public offering with NAV-based pricing; Robert Bergdolt in North Carolina led the deal. In Baltimore, Penny Minna represented Wells Fargo as underwriter's counsel in a $111.4m public offering of 7.750% Series A cumulative redeemable perpetual preferred shares of beneficial interest of First Potomac Realty Trust, a Maryland REIT. Christopher Paci leads the team from New York and is highly recommended, as is Peter Astiz in Palo Alto.

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Within Corporate restructuring (including bankruptcy), tier 5

Following an aggressive lateral hiring spree over the past three years, DLA Piper’s practice has ‘significantly raised its market profile and increased its bench of experienced lawyers’. The 21-partner team is co-chaired from New York and Chicago respectively by Gregg Galardi, who joined from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in 2011, and Richard Chesley, who joined from Paul Hastings LLP in 2011, and also includes partners in Baltimore, Dallas, Miami, San Francisco and Wilmington. In a strong example of its new status in the restructuring field, the firm won an instruction from Reddy Ice Corporation, the largest packaged ice manufacturer in the US, in relation to its prearranged Chapter 11. The case saw Reddy shed $400m in debt and transfer majority equity ownership to Centerbridge, and other secured lenders, and was completed in 36 days. In another headline debtor mandate, the firm represented Trident Microsystems and its Cayman affiliate in their complex Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases filed in 2012, which involved the sale of all four of their business divisions as well as the commencing of the wind-down of fourteen non-subsidiaries located in ten different jurisdictions.

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Within Project finance, tier 5

DLA Piper provides ‘an excellent service’ and has ‘strong experience in project finance, particularly in power generation’. Its fast-growing practice strikes a good balance between lender and sponsor work, with a slight slant towards the latter. The team is co-headed by the highly regarded Joseph Tato, who joined from Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP, and Nicolai Sarad, and is spread across its New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Houston offices. Its strong profile in project finance partly derives from the firm’s solid expertise in private equity and asset sales and dispositions, as well as the international breadth and diversity of its practice. In a recent highlight, Tato represented the Ghanaian Volta River Authority in the development and financing of the $270m project to expand a thermal generating facility to a combined cycle facility. Also in Africa, Tato and Sarad are advising Biotherm Energy on the prospective equity investment and financing of a 27MW wind project and two 10MW solar projects in South Africa, worth $150m. In a reflection of the firm’s strength in Latin America, Chicago-based Gianluca Bacchiocchi assisted Terminales Portuarios Euroandinos Paita and the project sponsor in a $110m Rule144A/Reg. S offering of senior secured notes, which was notable for being the first port-related project bond financing in Latin America. On the lender side, the firm advised RBC Merchant Bank (Caribbean) and a group of lenders on the restructuring, recapitalization and refinancing of a $180m project financing for Hidro Xacbal, which operates a 94MW hydroelectric facility in Guatemala. Andrianne Payson joined the New York office from Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP, and Houston-based Glenn Reitman joined from Thompson & Knight LLP.

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Within Structured finance , tier 5

DLA Piper receives ‘extremely high marks on all aspects, including response time, and business acumen’. The head of the derivatives practice, Chicago-based Marc Horwitz is ‘very responsive and insightful, and has a strong understanding of current business issues impacting the derivatives field’. Horwitz led the work for Qualcomm in collateralized structured derivatives transactions designed to provide credit support to bond issues by Qualcomm’s Indian subsidiaries; the innovative transaction used offshore structured derivatives to provide credit enhancement to an onshore bond denominated in Indian rupees. Boston-based Ronald Borod is a senior member of the structured finance group and a securitization specialist; he recently represented Oxford Finance in connection with a securitization of a portfolio of commercial loans valued at $270m made to life sciences and healthcare companies. Michael Macaluso in New York handles domestic and cross-border asset-backed securities, and credit derivatives.

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Within Healthcare: service providers, tier 4

DLA Piper has a notably large regulatory bench and assists a wide range of service providers on transactional and contentious matters. Miami-based group co-chair Joshua Kaye led a mixed US and UK team that advised Synergy Health on its tender offer and merger of SRI/Surgical Express. Kaye is also defending State of Florida Agency for Health Care Administration and Florida Department of Health in a pending class action lawsuit and in a DOJ investigation involving Medicare claims. Kaye is ‘not a good lawyer, he is a great lawyer - with a superb team’. Of counsel Adam Rogers, also based in Miami, is recommended ‘for regulatory, compliance and some transactional work’; as is Dallas-based Frank Sheeder for ‘compliance program design and implementation’.

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Within Overview,

Within the legal market, the implosion of Dewey LeBoeuf LLP’s renowned insurance practice continues to make its mark with some of its most prominent partners settling at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and Patton Boggs LLP, and others at Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP, Mayer Brown, Clifford Chance, Hogan Lovells LLP, Sidley Austin LLP, and DLA Piper.

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Within Patent licensing and transactional, tier 4

For life sciences including medical devices, pharma, and biotech, DLA Piper has ‘outstanding industry knowledge and business acumen’. The group of 24 partners sits with an expansive intellectual property group of 450, which allows it to provide ‘unprecedented legal advice drawn from a worldwide pool of experts’. The team is drawn both from the technology, sourcing and commercial group, headed by the ‘excellent’ Vincent Sanchez, and also from the patent prosecution team, which is led by Dan Christenbury. The group has a strong client base which includes Qualcomm, eBay and Pfizer, and highlights for the team included acting on a number of strategic patent purchases and corporate support matters. It also acted for a mobile network operator on a licensing agreement as a result of threatened litigation.

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Within Patent litigation: full coverage, tier 4

DLA Piper provides ‘cost effective service’ and ‘solid, practical advice which relates to business as well as the letter of the law’. It has been involved in some high-stakes matters, acting for Apple in ITC proceedings against HTC. In San Diego, John Allcock and Sean Cunningham are representing Motorola and Time Warner Cable in asserting patent claims against TiVo. The practice has developed its focus on competitor cases in the life sciences area, with a New York team representing St Jude Medical in disputes against rival company Volcano regarding patents for pressure wire technology used for heart patients. Los Angeles-based Richard de Bodo obtained a favorable ruling of non-infringement for Pfizer as defendant to allegations brought by AntiCancer. Mark Fowler and John Guaragna are both ‘knowledgeable, responsive, efficient, practical and aware of client goals’. Joseph Lavelle provides ‘top-notch, bar-none technical understanding’. Andrew Valentine is also recommended for high-stakes patent litigation matters. (Richard de Bodo has left the firm since publication.)

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Within Patent litigation: International Trade Commission, tier 4

DLA Piper draws on its international trade and patent litigation capabilities to handle numerous Section 337 investigations. Recent highlights include achieving a decision of no violation in favor of both GSI Technology, which had a complaint filed against it by Cypress Semiconductor; and it represented Zoran in an investigation brought by Freescale. The practice represented Apple in cases against HTC, which included obtaining a favorable ruling of no violation for the client in an offensive suit filed by the opposing party. The practice is currently advising Samsung as a respondent to a case asserting a patent for wireless device. Mark Fowler and Sean Cunningham have extensive experience acting for leading technology companies before the ITC. (Richard de Bodo has left the firm since publication.)

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Within Trademarks: non-contentious - full coverage, tier 4

DLA Piper ‘has an expansive team of trademark lawyers and paralegals, plus it has worldwide experts to assist wherever necessary.’ The team of nine US partners sits within a 77-strong global team and manages more than 50,000 marks in over 150 countries. Chair of the trademark, copyright and media team is the well-respected Ann Ford in Washington DC, who also serves as vice chair of the global IP team. Other prominent members of the team include Chicago-based Mark Feldman, who is ‘responsive, timely and fun to work with’, and Heather Dunn in San Francisco. Vice-chair of the Chicago intellectual property group Christina Martini is also recommended. The group performs the full spread of work, predominantly on a global scale, and is also active in corporate support work, recently advising a hospitality client on the trademark aspects of an acquisition of a global restaurant chain. Clients include Verison Wireless, Amgen, Christie’s and First American.

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Within Private equity funds, tier 5

DLA Piper significantly expanded its private funds capability with the recruitment of David Goldstein, Richard Reilly and Gerald Rokoff from White & Case LLP, Wesley Nissen and Edward Johnson from Winston & Strawn LLP, and Gerald Francese from Dewey & LeBouef LLP. The strengthened team handles a range of fund matters for venture capital and emerging markets-focused clients. In 2012, Goldstein represented Gávea Investimentos on the launch of Gávea Jus Brazilian Government Liabilities Fund, which closed with $200m in capital commitments.

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Within Real estate investment trusts (REITs), DLA Piper is a second tier firm,

DLA Piper’s eight-partner practice handles a broad range of transactional REIT matters for a sponsor-side client base that includes Wells Real Estate Investment Trust II, as well as underwriter-side representations for institutional lenders. Its core strength lies in publicly listed, non-traded REITs, a strength which saw it advise WP Carey & Co in its merger with Corporate Property Associates 15, its publicly held, non-traded REIT affiliate, and the merged company’s conversion to a public REIT. It also represented Dividend Capital Diversified Property Fund in its $3bn best-efforts offering and concurrent conversion from a conventional finite-life non-traded REIT to a perpetual life non-traded REIT. On the underwriter side, it represented Wells Fargo Securities as underwriter of a $250m senior notes offering by BioMed Realty Trust, and acted for the joint bookrunners on the $57.5m preferred stock offering by mortgate REIT Dynex Capital. Practice head Robert Bergdolt is recommended.

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Within Product liability and mass tort defense: automotive/transport , DLA Piper is a third tier firm,

DLA Piper’s automotive practice is led by Loren Brown, William Kiniry and Christopher Young. Kiniry acted for Porsche Cars North America to achieve dismissal of a putative class action concerning allegedly defective engines installed in 1999 Porsche 911 Carrera Coupes. James Brogan led a team that represented Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co in the US Supreme Court, which was a precedent-setting case concerning the exercising of personal jurisdiction following a bus accident in Paris that killed two US citizens from North Carolina. Toyota Motor Sales has instructed the team to act as regional trial counsel in a suite of personal injury cases arising from alleged instances of unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles.

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Within Product liability and mass tort defense: consumer products (including tobacco), tier 4

DLA Piper’s ‘very good’ team has a ‘good reputation’ for consumer product defense, especially in California, and is particularly recommended for ‘big-dollar cases’; the group ‘gets results’ and ‘works well with others’. Loren Brown, William Kiniry and Christopher Young co-head the practice, which ‘travels well to other jurisdictions’ and contains lawyers that ‘know their way around a courtroom’. Clients have ‘full confidence’ in San Diego-based Brian Foster and William Boggs, who are both representing Lorillard Tobacco Company in product liability disputes in Florida and California. In September 2012, the duo achieved significant success for Lorillard by gaining dismissal of all consumer fraud class actions brought against it under California’s consumer fraud statute. In Maryland, the firm represented Live Nation Entertainment in class action claims relating to ticketing service charges and an alleged violation of Baltimore City’s ‘anti-scalping’ law to prevent the charging of administration fees during ticket sales. The practice also defended Olympus Imaging America and Olympus Corporation in consumer class actions alleging false advertising of its camera products and alleged defects in their design. Other clients include Sony Computer Entertainment America, Defiance Metal Products and Groupon.

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Within Product liability and mass tort defense: pharmaceuticals and medical devices, DLA Piper is a second tier firm,

Peers have the ‘highest regard’ for DLA Piper’s team of ‘top people’. Loren Brown has ‘an excellent scientific mind’, ‘thinks through things from new angles’, and is ‘very good’ on case strategy. As co-national counsel, she oversaw the defense of Pfizer against over 2,500 personal injury claims relating to Chantix, achieving a summary judgment in the multi-district litigation, which led to the dismissal of several hundred cases. ‘Big thinker’ John Dougherty provides clients with ‘creative solutions’ and continues to advise Pfizer regarding its exposure in the long-running hormone therapy litigation. A San Diego-based team including Shirli Fabbri Weiss, Christopher Young, and Julie Hussey represented Bayer Healthcare and Bayer Corporation in consumer litigation across California regarding weight-loss tablets). It recently acted as national counsel for the same clients in litigation concerning One-A-Day Men’s Multivitamin products. Another notable instruction saw GE Company and GE Healthcare instruct the team as national litigation counsel in mass tort litigation arising from its gadolinium-based contrast agent, Omniscan. The team also represented DJO Global in nationwide lawsuits concerning cold therapy medical devices. Philadelphia-based William Kiniry is also recommended.

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Within Securities: shareholder litigation, tier 5

DLA Piper provides ‘outstanding service in all regards - the best firm I have ever used’. Perrie Weiner in Los Angeles and Robert Brownlie, ‘expert and highly competent’, in San Diego co-chair the practice. Weiner, working with Beijing resident partner Sammy Fang has recently focused on defending class-action suits and regulatory actions against Chinese-based companies that entered the US markets through reverse mergers. In Los Angeles, Nicolas Morgan, who also handles regulatory matters, recently represented E*TRADE to successfully resolve a number of proceedings concerning customer purchases of auction rate securities, and San Diego partner Shirli Fabbri Weiss is leading the defense of Finisar Corporation and certain directors and officers in shareholder class action and derivative litigation arising from alleged omissions in its SEC filings.

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Within Technology: data protection and privacy, DLA Piper is a first tier firm,

Led by Jim Halpert and Thomas Boyd in Washington DC, DLA Piper’s seven-partner group is recommended for ‘excellent service, responsiveness and ability to tailor advice to the company and the situation at hand’ and provides counseling, litigation, transactional and public policy services to clients ranging from startups to global brands. The group’s significant Washington DC presence is supported by the firm’s extensive national and global footprint. Halpert, who clients praise for his ‘tremendous privacy policy knowledge’, is legal counsel to the State Privacy and Security Coalition and the Internet Commerce Coalition and is involved in drafting state privacy and data security laws, focusing on mobile transparency and children’s privacy, while Thomas Boyd focuses on financial services and cyber security. The group’s privacy class action defense practice is particularly active, with Luanne Sacks in San Francisco defending new client Staples, and Carter Ott and Jennifer Kashatus successfully defending Velti in a class action under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Stefanie Fogel in Boston is singled out for ‘outstanding client service’. The group advises global financial services organizations and major corporates on financial services regulation, managing risk and security and dealing with data breaches. Key clients include Accenture, Pfizer and Comcast. Hilton Hotels is another recent client win.

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Within Technology: outsourcing, DLA Piper is a third tier firm,

DLA Piper’s outsourcing group is led by Vinny Sanchez in Chicago, who chairs the US technology, sourcing and commercial practice. Supported by the firm’s global footprint and strength in technology transactions, and its investment in developing client-facing software applications, the group works on the customer side, representing high-profile clients in financial services, healthcare, communications and hospitality. Cloud computing, information security and mobile applications were top of the agenda in 2012. Sanchez and his team assisted a national banking association with outsourcing its payment card processing services. This global project involved US and UK teams dealing with card processing services in the highly regulated banking industry. Mark Radcliffe in Palo Alto is assisting OpenStack Foundation with establishing a governance framework for a multi-vendor open source stack of software to provide cloud services. Clients include QUALCOMM, eBay, Sony Electronics, Groupon, Hyatt and RBS.

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Within Technology: transactions, DLA Piper is a second tier firm,

DLA Piper’s team, led by Peter Astiz in Silicon Valley and Vinny Sanchez in Chicago, who chairs the US technology, sourcing and commercial practice, handles US, international and multi-jurisdictional commercial transactions involving the acquisition, divestiture, and licensing of technology products, and services. Astiz advised MarkMonitor in its acquisition by Thomson Reuters; Benjamin Griebe in Palo Alto represented SurveyMonkey with a complex acquisition, asset contribution and stock issuance transaction. Other recent mandates include advising JDA Software Group in its acquisition by RedPrairie, and advising a mobile marketing company on the provision of a SaaS based software service to a mobile network provider. Mark Radcliffe in Palo Alto provides strategic IP advice and expertise in cloud computing and social media, recently assisting a $2bn cloud service provider with negotiating a white label infrastructure as a service (IaaS) agreement with a major telecom company. William Cook in Washington DC combines technology and telecoms expertise. Jim Montgomery in Austin is recommended. Craig Opperman joined the Palo Alto office from Reed Smith LLP. A prestigious client list includes Qualcomm, eBay, JDA Software, Groupon and RDS Citizens.

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Within Antitrust, tier 5

DLA Piper ‘stands out for its international strength’, and the lawyers’ ability at handling a single matter from multiple offices is ‘extremely impressive’. ‘They are quick to understand clients’ business practices, and their responses are always fast and clear.’ In 2012, partners in Washington DC and Dallas represented Reddy Ice, the largest packaged ice company in the United States, in criminal and civil DOJ investigations of the packaged ice industry. California’s Jeff Shohet acted for Oracle America on two antitrust lawsuits relating to licenses for certain Java technologies. The group is also well known for merger clearance matters, where Shohet is a key contact, as is New York’s Paolo Morante. The ‘excellent’ David Bamberger leads the practice from Washington DC, and Philadelphia-based Carl Hittinger is also recommended. James Nelson, in Dallas, is ‘fantastic to work with; he is very responsive, knowledgeable and able to relate well to clients’. Deana Cairo and Lesli Esposito were recently promoted to partner.

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Within M&A: middle-market ($500m-999m), DLA Piper is a first tier firm,

DLA Piper added several lateral partners to its national corporate/M&A practice, including Neil Aizenstein and Andrew Weil in Chicago from Morgan Lewis; Chicago-based Wesley Nissen from Winston & Strawn LLP; Daniel Eisner, in New York, from Proskauer Rose LLP; Eric Grossman, in Reston, from Cooley LLP; Sarah Kahn, in Washington DC, from Arnold & Porter LLP; William Marcoux, Jeffrey Potash, John Altorelli and Berge Setrakian in New York, and Paul Chen, in Palo Alto, from Dewey LeBoeuf LLP; Palo Alto-based Richard Scudellari from Reed Smith LLP; and Masood Sohaili, in Los Angeles, from Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP. Recent highlights included representing Pfizer, the world’s largest drug company, in the sale of its infant nutrition business to Swiss food giant, Nestlé, for $11.9bn, marking the largest ever acquisition by Nestlé, as it expands its global presence in the baby food market; acting for W P Carey & Co in its merger with its publicly held, non-traded REIT affiliate, Corporate Property Associates 15, leading to the creation of a combined REIT, which is expected to have a total equity market capitalization of $3bn and a portfolio of 43m square feet leased to 135 companies around the world; and acting for P F Chang’s in its $1.1bn going-private transaction, the deal structured with the complex variation of a dual-track tender/proxy solicitation, including a go-shop right, and a private equity sponsored buyout. The practice also advised Human Genome Sciences in its sale to GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), through an initial unsolicited tender offer by GSK, which ultimately resulted in a negotiated merger agreement; advised Appleton Papers, a manufacturer of direct thermal, carbonless and security papers, in connection with its proposed $675m business combination with Hicks Acquisition Company II, a NASDAQ special purpose acquisition company; and represented Biota Holdings in its $350m merger with Nabi Biopharmaceuticals. New York-based Roger Meltzer is the global corporate and finance chair; Jay Rains, in San Diego, and Robert (Jay) Smith Jr, in Baltimore, are the global co-corporate chairs; and Jonathan Klein, in New York, chairs the M&A practice. Neil Aizenstein in Chicago, John Altorelli and Charles Baker in New York, Jeff Baglio in San Diego and Eric Wang, in Palo Alto, are also key contacts.

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Within Private equity buyouts, DLA Piper is a third tier firm,

DLA Piper has continued to expand its private equity team following the high-profile hire of New York Daniel Eisner from Proskauer Rose LLP in January 2012. He was followed into the New York office by John Altorelli, a recruit from Dewey & LeBoeuf. Clients include Wind Point Partners, Arbor Private Investments, Mistral Equity Partners, Kohlberg & Company and Centerbridge Partners. Arsenal Capital Partners and Stonebridge Partners were new clients to the practice in 2012. Much of the practice’s work is in the middle market. In 2012, Chicago and New York-based department head Steven Napolitano represented Arbor Investments’ acquisition of Columbus Foods, a portfolio company of Endeavour Capital. Napolitano also advised Wind Point Partners on the sale of Santa Maria Foods, while Chicago partner Brendan Head represented Wind Point on the purchase of TPG-owned Hilex Poly Co, a manufacturer of plastic bags. The firm also advised PF Chang’s China Bistro on its $1.1bn going-private transaction, with Centerbridge Partners as the acquirer. Other leading figures in the practice include New York partner Christopher Giordano and Atlanta’s Joe Alexander.

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Within Venture capital and emerging companies, DLA Piper is a second tier firm,

The ‘excellent’ DLA Piper completed a huge 585 venture capital deals in 2011, enabling it to be placed first by Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst for private equity and venture capital transactions. The firm has a huge emerging growth and venture capital department in a multitude of key centres including Silicon Valley and San Francisco, San Diego, Austin, Reston (Virginia), Los Angeles, Washington DC, Atlanta, Boston and Phoenix. The firm has worked hard on developing its Silicon Valley presence in recent years, which started with the arrival of the prominent Curtis Mo in 2010, and was followed by the recruitment of an emerging growth, technology and venture capital focused team from the Palo Alto office of Reed Smith LLP in 2012, which included Richard Scudellari, Armando Castro and Matt Oshinsky. Later in the year Michael Torosian joined from Latham & Watkins LLP. The firm’s aggressive growth in Silicon Valley as well as throughout the US has given it even greater prominence within the emerging growth and venture community. In 2012, new clients included Bessemer Venture Partners, Samsung Ventures, EdgeCast Networks and Surveymonkey. Longstanding clients include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Qualcomm Ventures, New Enterprise Associates and Groupon. In 2012, a team led by new partner Richard Scudellari represented AOptix Technologies on its $165m Series E-1 preferred stock financing. Reston-based co-chair of the department Jeffrey Lehrer advised Columbia Capital, Valhalla Partners and Novak Biddle on the $100m equity financing of Avail Media. Other leading figures in the practice include Austin and Palo Alto-based co-chair of the practice Paul Hurdlow, Austin’s Jim Montgomery, and San Diego’s Randy Socol and Michael Kagnoff, who is an ‘experienced steady hand’ and ‘very practical’.

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Within Construction, DLA Piper is a second tier firm,

DLA Piper’s 28-attorney construction practice is spread across the US. The group combines responsiveness, technical knowledge and practical industry experience to deliver ‘an overall level of service that is outstanding’. Major clients include clients as varied as SunEdison, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and Chick-Fil-A. The firm’s expertise in real estate helps to fuel the construction workload and the ‘invaluable’ Brian Fielden is assisting the Federal Realty Investment Trust in drafting and negotiating design and construction contracts for a $150m mixed-use development in Massachusetts. The practice has experience in handling large and complex contentious matters for plaintiffs and defendants, including construction defect claims, class action cases and contract disputes. It is defending leading apartment developer Archstone in a $70m construction defect case in New York involving 20 parties and 50 insurance carriers. It is also active internationally; advising BioTherm Energy on drafting and negotiating an EPC contract as well as commissioning work on wind and solar energy projects throughout South Africa.

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Within Land use/zoning, DLA Piper is a first tier firm,

Specializing in major projects, DLA Piper’s land use, development and government relations practice has a national presence with 21 partners located in six offices. The team recently represented Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison in his purchase of 98% of the Hawaiian island of Lanai, in which the firm oversaw the review of the land use permits, entitlements, and governmental regulations governing the purchased property. The team also represented Chicago Clean Energy in all facets of the Illinois process to enact legislation enabling the development of a $3bn clean coal facility. The legislation was signed into law in July 2011. Chicago-based Ted Novak heads the practice.

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Within Real estate, DLA Piper is a second tier firm,

A highly recommended firm noted for its broad geographical presence and its ‘informed, practical guidance’ and ‘extensive industry knowledge’, DLA Piper fields a 78-partner real estate group across 13 US offices, headed by Jay Epstien in Washington DC. Having seen a number of partner departures, the group is now back in a growth phase; Bryan Connolly and Kimberlie Pearlman were promoted to partner and real estate finance partner Joseph Forte joined in New York. In an unusual work highlight, the firm advised Larry Ellison in his purchase of 98% of the island of Lanai, HI, with 88,000 acres including residential developments, utilities companies and a solar farm being part of the deal; San Francisco partner Stephen Cowan was a key partner on the transaction, and has also recently acted for the Bank of China in a $3.5bn refinancing of the Venetian Macau resort. In New York, Scott Weinberg, whose specialisms include commercial mortgage origination and securitization, has a level of in-depth knowledge, ‘both business and legal’, which makes him a ‘go-to lawyer’. The firm advised Tishman Speyer on various matters including several acquisitions and dispositions in Washington DC, Chicago, and Arlington, Virginia, notably the $217.5m sale of 200 West Madison, Chicago, and the $126m sale of Chicago’s Civic Opera Building, with James Beard leading both deals. New client gains include the Intelsat Corporation, Healthcare Trust of America, and Ivanhoé Cambridge.

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Within Domestic tax: East Coast, tier 6

DLA Piper is ‘reliable, extremely efficient and committed to the client’. Bruce Wein heads the department from New York, with partners also based in the firm’s Baltimore and Boston offices. In recent work, Wein represented SCOR Global Life Americas Reinsurance on the disposition of a life reinsurance business to an affiliate of Apollo Management. Stephen Owen, in the Baltimore office is a ‘fine tax lawyer’ and associate Drew Young is also recommended. Gerald Rokoff is ‘very technically strong’. Other firm clients include Red Kite Partners and Loral Space & Communications, which the firm advised in the sale of its satellite manufacturing division and, following the transaction, continued to advise on structuring the tax efficient distribution of proceeds to shareholders and on the potential monetization of its other assets.

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Within Domestic tax: West Coast, tier 4

DLA Piper fields six tax partners on the West Coast, predominantly in the firm’s Palo Alto office. David Colker heads the department and the team handles a wide range of transactions, including strategic acquisitions and multi-state tax controversy. Stacy Paz was promoted to partner in 2012 and joined David Plewa in the firm’s representation of Groupon in connection with multiple strategic acquisitions. The firm also represented P F Chang’s China Bistro in its definitive merger agreement with Centerbridge Partners (a going private transaction); Neil Balmert in the San Diego office led the advice. Arthur Rinsky and Larry Tannenbaum are also recommended.

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Within International tax, tier 4

DLA Piper is ‘very responsive’ and has ‘in-depth knowledge’ in international matters across the world. The highly regarded David Colker in Palo Alto heads the West Coast department, and the firm also has tax lawyers based in its New York, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago and Miami offices. The firm’s international scope is strengthened by the firm’s international network of offices, which include lawyers, advisors and economists. Jerry Rokoff, in the New York office, advised Arsenal Capital Partners, a leading private equity firm, on its worldwide tax planning for the acquisition of Plasticolors and Evonik’s global colorants business with operations in Germany, Holland and Australia. Also recommended is Sang Kim, who has ‘excellent skills’. Tamara Shepard, in the San Francisco office, specializes in controversy work and was promoted to partner in 2012.

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