Profile: Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP

Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP - Who's Who Legal '70'

What is the Who's Who Legal '70'?

Skadden can stand comparison with any firm in the US, and the quality of its lawyers in the rest of the world is evident too. The firm has 77 listings in 21 practice areas, all but 10 based in the United States. The firm’s London, Brussels, Paris and Hong Kong offices are also represented.

CORPORATE
Skadden was described more than once as a “corporate powerhouse” in the course of our research, and its recent track record bears this out. In 2007 the firm advised BHP Billiton in its proposed combination with Rio Tinto, as well as GlobalSantaFe in its merger with Transocean to create one of the the world’s largest oil and natural gas contractors. Nine partners appear as leaders for M&A work; four of these practise in the New York office, which has “a remarkable array of talent”. Roger Aaron is one of the best regarded M&A lawyers anywhere, and Peter Atkins is also said to be “of the very highest calibre”. Sources also noted the “exceptional quality” of Morris Kramer; David Fox completes the New York quartet. Elsewhere in the States, Kenton King impresses in California, and the Chicago office provides two nominees. Charles Mulaney was variously described as “outstanding” and “amazing” by our sources, and William Kunkel is “among the best in the mid-west”. The firm also counts on “significant players” in the Paris and Hong Kong markets: Pierre Servan-Schreiber and Nicholas Norris.

With such depths of expertise, it is unsurprising that the firm performs similarly well in the corporate governance research. Three individuals from the M&A chapter appear: Roger Aaron is the senior partner in charge of all of Skadden Arps’s corporate practice areas and a “dean of NY law”; Peter Atkins and Charles Mulaney are the others. Colleen Mahoney in DC heads the firm’s securities enforcement and compliance practice and “knows the SEC inside out”, having previously served as acting general counsel of the agency and as deputy director of the enforcement division. Brian McCarthy is selected in California.
Skadden’s largest single contingent is in the corporate tax chapter, with ten partners appearing from three US offices. Five are based in DC. Paul Oosterhuis coordinates the firm’s international tax practice and was praised as “excellent” by his peers. Pamela Olson is a former assistant secretary for Tax Policy at the US Treasury Department and a “renowned authority”, while the “impressive” Hal Hicks is a former international tax counsel for the Office of Tax Policy, Department of Treasury. Fred Goldberg is a former chief counsel of the IRS, and the “excellent” Kenneth Gideon also appears. Co-head of the firm’s tax group Matthew Rosen in New York is “phenomenally talented”; Charles Morgan, former associate chief counsel of the IRS, is also held in high esteem by his clients and peers . Diana Lopo and Barnet Phillips are listed, as is Louis Freeman – “a key figure in the Chicago market”.

Skadden also performed strongly in the insolvency and restructuring research, and has “a huge profile in the area”. Jack Butler co-heads Skadden’s worldwide corporate restructuring practice from Chicago. He boasts an enviable track record that includes the restructurings of Delphi and Kmart. Respondents commented in particular on his “unrivalled” cross-border experience. Timothy Pohl joins Butler in Chicago and his chapter 11 work, as well as the out of court restructurings of American National Power and Krispy Kreme, attracted high praise. New York’s D J Baker has represented companies in their chapter 11 cases or out-of-court restructurings, as well as lenders, committees and acquirers. Gregg Galardi is a “great debtors’ lawyer” and is based in Wilmington in Delaware while recent recruit from Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP Christopher Mallon co-heads the European restructuring practice from the London office.

FINANCE
Skadden’s CV in corporate finance is hugely impressive. The firm advised China CITIC Bank in its US$5.9 billion dual-listed initial public offering, the world’s largest IPO to date, and also worked for Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Global Markets as the lead underwriters in the approximately $4.8 billion initial public offering of common units by The Blackstone Group. Four of Skadden’s six partners listed in the capital markets chapter practise in the US. New York-based Matthew Mallow heads the firm’s corporate finance group and occupies a leading position within the marketplace. His colleague Paul Schnell’s Latin American practice was noted during the course of our research, while Thomas Kunz is similarly well thought of and known for his work on asset-backed securities transactions and credit-enhanced securities issuances. Elsewhere in the US, clients and competitors “think highly of” Rodd Schreiber in Chicago, and the firm’s international stature is underlined by further nominees in France and Hong Kong. In the former, the “eminent” Pierre Servan-Schreiber appears once again, and Jonathan Stone is one of the leading lights in Hong Kong with a “truly impressive” track record of US-registered offerings, high-yield debt offerings and IPOs.

The firm also performs well in other finance related areas, with the New York office in particular featuring regularly. Two partners from the Big Apple appear in the banking chapter, led in the voting by DC based William Sweet, who was deemed “an invaluable asset to his clients”. The project finance chapter sees four Skadden nominees appear. Harold Moore is regarded as “one of New York’s finest lawyers”, and he is joined by three further lawyers from the DC office, led in the voting by the the “fantastic” Martin Klepper, who has represented clients in relation to over 100 transactions totalling more than US$10 billion. Skadden also appears in the private funds research, courtesy of the “terrific” Philip Harris in New York.

DISPUTES
Skadden is similarly strong on the contentious side, with substantial representation in the commercial arbitration and litigation chapters. The firm is a leading US name in the international arbitration market and garners five nominees. Three appear in New York; Dana Freyer and Barry Garfinkel feature prominently, as does John Gardiner, who is a new entry in this edition. The “superb” Karyl Nairn and Paul Mitchard QC both feature on our London list. Mitchard was recently involved in the Yukos / Sibneft Russian dispute in which US$28 billion was at stake. In the past year the firm’s litigation clients have included Biogen Idec, DaimlerChrysler, HealthSouth and Virgin Mobile USA, and the three featured commercial litigators are all based in the US: two in Delaware and the other in California.

Skadden’s business crime defence practice was also the object of much praise. Richard Marmaro heads the West Coast SEC enforcement and white-collar defence practice in the Los Angeles and San Francisco offices. David Zornow appears in the New York research, and the firm is also strong in Washington, where it “has an excellent reputation”. The “spectacular” Robert Bennett co-leads the firm’s international government enforcement litigation group and the criminal and civil litigation practice in DC. He is an “outstanding trial lawyer” who has represented Enron, HealthSouth and KPMG. Fellow co-leader Carl Rauh was recommended as “very smart and highly effective”.

The product liability research identifies Sheila Birnbaum as “one of the finest lawyers in the field worldwide”. Her “reputation is second to none”, and she was recognised for work on behalf State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance, where the US Supreme Court reversed a US$145 million punitive damages award against the company. Barbara Wrubel is of counsel to the firm and is recognised as a “serious player in this field”, while Raoul Kennedy stands out on the West Coast, and “should feature on any list of the best”.

REGULATION
The firm represented clients including Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings, JP Morgan Chase and The National Hockey League in antitrust matters in 2007, and three of Skadden’s eight nominees in the competition chapter are based in New York. Barry Hawk in particular is recognised as “one of the top international lawyers in the business”. The highest ranking competition lawyer in the firm is based in Brussels – James Venit is a “superlative practitioner” who appears among the elite in the field. He is joined by two other partners from the Belgian capital, and two Skadden lawyers are also included from the US capital – the “very influential” John Nannes and Steven Sunshine, a lateral hire from Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP in 2007. The DC office also provides both nominees in the trade and customs listings – the “very prominent” Robert Lighthizer and “highly articulate” John Mangan. Warren Lavey in Chicago appears in the regulatory communications research. The internet and e-commerce chapter is a new addition to this compendium, and Stuart Levi expands the firm’s presence in this book.

INFRASTRUCTURE, ENERGY AND OTHER AREAS
In the environment chapter Jose Allen appears in California, and is regarded as a “very talented litigator” who is “internationally known” for Proposition 65 and Superfund related cases. His experience includes representing a company in the United States’ largest natural resource damages suit ($1 billion), brought by the state of California and the federal government. The “excellent” Kenneth Berlin heads the firm’s environmental practice and is a former section chief in the environment and natural resources division of the US Department of Justice.

Skadden is widely recognised for its real estate work; it recently advised Centro Properties Group (Australia) – a REIT and a developer and manager of shopping malls – in its US$6.2 billion acquisition via a tender offer of New Plan Excel Realty Trust, as well as representing Morgan Stanley Japan Limited in its US$2.4 billion acquisition via an auction of hotels in Japan from All Nippon Airways. The New York office provides two nominees in the real estate research – Martha Feltenstein and Benjamin Needell both scoring highly
Robert Sullivan in the insurance and reinsurance chapter is “one of the first people I would refer clients to”, according to our sources. From the same office, Edward Filardi appears as a leading patent lawyer, and the “authoritative” Clifford Naeve in the DC office brings the firm’s representation to a close with his appearance among the world’s leading oil and gas experts.