Debevoise & Plimpton LLP - The Who's Who Legal 100 2012

What is the Who's Who Legal 100?

The firm received more praise than any other law firm for its private funds work: 13 of its lawyers feature in that chapter, eight of whom are based in New York, including the co-chair of the global private equity funds and investment management groups Michael Harrell. He has over 20 years’ experience advising on fund formation matters, buyouts, distressed debt and private equity issues. Erica Berthou received numerous votes for her practice in open and closed private investment fund management. Jennifer Burleigh focuses on fund formation and financing structures for leading investors such as Odyssey Investment and Vinci Partners. Woodrow Campbell serves as counsel to Fidelity Funds and Blackrock, among others, and Rebecca Silberstein is a “great” private funds lawyer with an interest in buyouts in the energy, infrastructure, banking and financial services industries.

The “outstanding” David Schwartz is co-chair of the firm’s private equity funds group and represents sponsors and investors in complex secondary transactions. Jordan Murray represents numerous private equity clients, including Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, Deutsche Bank, Diamond Castle, GE Asset Management and many more outfits. “Strong performer” Sherri Caplan’s practice concentrates on organising funds and acting for investors in fund formation.

Most notably in London, Marwan Al-Turki is a leading private investment fund formation lawyer and co-chair of the firm’s European private equity funds group. Alongside him are Geoffrey Kittredge and Anthony McWhirter: both highly regarded lawyers by their peers. Hong Kong-based Andrew Ostrognai is “one of the top lawyers in Asia” in this field. In Frankfurt, Friedrich Hey is a German international tax and funds expert with extensive experience advising on cross-border financing and M&A. He earns an additional listing in our tax chapter for his work.

As well as Hey, the firm boasts five other lawyers in the corporate tax chapter. In Paris, Pierre-Pascal Bruneau has an “excellent reputation” dealing with M&A-related tax matters. In New York, former chair of the New York State Bar Association Tax Section Andrew Berg is a “prominent” figure in the field. Gary Friedman is a US and international tax lawyer with an interest in multi-jurisdictional M&A issues. Similarly, David Schnabel focuses on tax-related M&A matters and private fund formation; he is considered “very sharp”. Peter Schuur has broad experience advising clients on international M&A tax matters, spin-offs, financing and structuring.

The firm’s arbitration chapter fields some significant names, such as Lord Goldsmith QC, former UK Attorney-General and current chair of the European and Asian litigation teams, and Sophie Lamb, an international dispute resolution lawyer particularly focused in IP and media.

Debevoise’s expertise further extends into the fields of environment law, banking, real estate, trademarks, insurance and reinsurance, business crime, insolvency and restructuring, and aviation, demonstrating the broad sweep of services on offer to clients.