Valerie Ford Jacob > Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP > New York, United States > Lawyer Profile
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP Offices
601 LEXINGTON AVENUE
31ST FLOOR
NEW YORK, NY 10022
NEW YORK
United States
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Valerie Ford Jacob
Position
Partner
Career
Valerie is co-head of our global capital markets practice.
Valerie focuses on capital raising, including both debt and equity in the public and private markets, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and other business transactions. She also counsels corporations and special committees on corporate governance, securities regulation and investigations.
Valerie is also a co-head of our global financial institutions sector group. She is a frequent contributor to legal and other periodicals on securities laws and financing topics. She is consistently recognized as a leading lawyer by Chambers Global, Chambers USA, IFLR1000, Legal 500 and Best Lawyers.
Valerie has been described by clients as “a legend in the business.” She was named Finance Lawyer of the Year at Chambers USA’s 2012 Women in Law Awards. Valerie co-led the Freshfields team that was honored as Transatlantic Private Equity Team of the Year by Legal Week and The American Lawyer for its cross-border work advising Formula One (F1) and CVC Capital Partners on the sale of F1 to Liberty Media. She was named to the Law Dragon 500 Hall of Fame in 2017. She was also honored as a Woman Worth Watching in the 2016 issue of Profiles in Diversity Journal and the 2017 Expert Guide to Women in Business Law, a peer-ranked list of female experts in various divisions of business law. In 2020 and again in 2021, she was listed as one of the top Capital Markets practitioners in the United States by Euromoney’s Women in Business Expert Guide. She was awarded a “Lifetime Achievement Award” in 2021 by Corporate Counsel – Women, Influence & Power in Law, and “A Dealmaker of the Year” in 2022 by The American Lawyer. She was shortlisted as “Equity Capital Markets Lawyer of the Year” by Euromoney’s Americas Women in Business Law Awards, 2022.
She also is a member of The Committee of 200 (C200), an invitation-only membership organization of the world’s most successful women business leaders.
Education
- JD, Cornell Law School
- BS, Boston University
Lawyer Rankings
United States > Finance > Capital markets: debt offerings
(Hall of Fame)Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP has a strong bi-coastal practice with experienced teams in New York and Silicon Valley. The women-led team has a fine presence in investment grade debt and is making a further impression in ESG-related transactions. It is primarily known as an issuer-side practice, including emerging and mid-cap businesses through to large global leaders, though also has close links to a range of underwriters. It is further noted for corporate governance thanks to the presence of Pamela Marcogliese
, who splits her time between New York and Silicon Valley. New York partner Valerie Ford Jacob is global co-head of the firm’s capital markets and financial institutions practices, while Silicon Valley’s Sarah Solum is noted for representing large technology businesses, such as Oracle, in high-value debt offerings. New York partner Michael Levitt is active in a range of debt offerings for both issuers and underwriters.
United States > Finance > Capital markets: equity offerings
(Hall of Fame)Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP has experienced and strong teams in both New York and Silicon Valley. It has close links to both issuers and underwriters, including growth companies, mid-cap and global businesses. With the slow market for IPOs, the team has remained active in direct offerings, PIPEs, block trades, SPAC transactions, and at-the-market offerings. Valerie Ford Jacob is hugely experienced in major equity offerings with Silicon Valley partner Sarah Solum also having an outstanding reputation, especially for tech clients. Michael Levitt is another key name and Pamela Marcogliese, based in New York and Silicon Valley, is head of US transactions with a strong reputation in capital markets and corporate governance. Silicon Valley’s Scott Blumenkranz was promoted to partner in 2023 and rising star Taryn Zucker is another key member of the team. Named individuals are based in New York unless stated otherwise.
Lawyer Rankings
- Hall of Fame United States > Finance > Capital markets: debt offerings
- Hall of Fame United States > Finance > Capital markets: equity offerings
- Capital markets: debt offerings United States > Finance
- Capital markets: equity offerings United States > Finance
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Corporate governance
- Dispute resolution > International arbitration
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
- Tax > Financial products
Firm Rankings
- Dispute resolution > International litigation
- Tax > International tax
- Dispute resolution > M&A litigation: defense
- Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
- Finance > Capital markets: debt offerings
- Finance > Capital markets: equity offerings
- Antitrust > Civil litigation/class actions: defense
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
- Media, technology and telecoms > Cyber law (including data privacy and data protection)
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: transactional
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: large deals ($1bn+)
- Antitrust > Merger control
- Tax > US taxes: non-contentious
- International trade > CFIUS
- International trade > Customs, export controls and economic sanctions
- Dispute resolution > General commercial disputes
- Media, technology and telecoms > Technology transactions
- Healthcare > Life sciences
- Finance > Commercial lending
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Shareholder activism