Mr David Brinton > Clifford Chance > New York, United States > Lawyer Profile

Sarah Jones and Benjamin Sibbett  co-head the New York-based Clifford Chance team, which primarily advises on multi-jurisdictional M&A and joint ventures across the life sciences, pharmaceutical, and energy sectors. Jones frequently assists multinational corporations with cross-border acquisitions, whilst Sibbett chiefly counsels domestic and international clients with deals in the media and industrials sectors. Neil Barlow focuses on private equity transactions, David Brinton is an expert on reorganizations and investments, whilst Kevin Lehpamer is knowledgeable on leveraged buyouts. Matthew Warner and Christine Kim are also highlighted as key contacts.

Cross-border deals are a standout area of focus for the team at Clifford Chance, which regularly leverages the firm’s global network and cross-practice offering to advise major domestic and international private equity clients such as EQT, KKR and Cinven on a broad range of transactions. The team is capable of handling complex domestic take-private acquisitions, carve-outs, and fund mergers, and it also advises private equity clients in connection with the launch of innovative projects, including Sixth Street’s joint venture with six leading soccer clubs to launch the Soccer Champions Tour platform. Sports and entertainment-focused private equity expert Neil Barlow is a key contact for this line of work and co-leads the practice with Kevin Lehpamer, who handles a broad range of transactions particularly in the healthcare, retail and tech sectors. M&A expert David Brinton is also recommended.

Clifford Chance is relatively unusual in having an established M&A team in Sao Paulo, backed by a number of Latin America-facing M&A specialists in the US and Europe. It is also active in cross-border transactions between Asia and Latin America. It continues to impress in representing corporates and financial investors in Latin America deals and advises a range of businesses in Brazil and other key markets around the region. Energy and infrastructure is a key strength for the team, which has worked on a series of investments in renewable energy projects. It has a numerous Spanish and Portuguese speakers, both Latin American-born practitioners and those that have lived and worked in the region. Although most of its Latin America-focused lawyers are based in the Americas, the firm’s London office has also worked on a series of recent headline deals. David Brinton is a leader in energy and infrastructure deals, and is noted for his experience in financial sponsor investments. Anthony Oldfield is managing partner of the Sao Paulo office and a vastly experienced M&A specialist, with a recent track record in venture capital investments in the Brazilian fintech sector. Thais Garcia is an increasing established talent in M&A and a genuine Latin America expert who now leads many of the firm’s headline deals in the region. Madrid’s Samir Azzouzi is another key figure with a fine record in financial sponsor investments; senior figure Javier Amantegui (corporate/M&A, private equity and investment fund work) also operates from the Spanish capital. At associate level, senior Carla Ruggero is a talented up-and-comer. The team was further strengthened in June 2023 with the hire of oil-and-gas transactional specialist, David Sweeney (who joined the firm’s new Houston office) from Akin. All named individuals are based in New York unless stated otherwise. Since publication, Ruggero has been promoted to the partnership – effective as of April 2024.