Profile: Debevoise & Plimpton LLP

Debevoise & Plimpton LLP - Who's Who Legal '70'

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

CORPORATE AND FINANCE
The corporate department is the largest practice group at Debevoise and its strength is clear for all to see on the following pages. The firm’s largest collection of talent is in the private funds chapter where a total of 11 partners feature, two more than in last year’s edition. Since 1995 the firm has acted as counsel for sponsors of or investors in over 850 private equity funds worldwide. “Superstar” Michael Harrell co-chairs the private equity funds group and is widely recognised as one of the leading names in the industry. Praised as “terrific”, “smart and creative” and “a real star”, he is joined by a further five highly rated individuals in the New York section. Debevoise is also one of only a handful of firms offering an international profile in the chapter.

Geoffrey Kittredge co-chairs the firm’s European private equity funds group from London and is recognised by sources as “one of the best funds lawyers in Europe”. Anthony McWhirter joined the London office from Freshfields in September 2007 and alongside Marwan Al-Turki adds further weight to what is regarded as an excellent team. Ann Baker in Paris boasts a “respected international practice” while Andrew Ostrognai in Hong Kong is regarded as one of the leading funds lawyers in Asia.

Corporate tax is evidently another strong suit at the firm with a total of four individuals making the chapter. Gary Friedman in New York was consistently endorsed to researchers. 2007 saw him work in the Debevoise team advising EDO Corporation in its definitive agreement with ITT Corporation to purchase all the outstanding shares of EDO for $56 per share. New York-based Andrew Berg is another highlyrated individual in the chapter. The “extremely impressive” Friedrich Hey emerges from our research as one of the most nominated practitioners in Germany. Hey’s practice has an emphasis on US/Germany cross-border tax planning and he gives the firm’s listing an international dimension. Pierre-Pascal Bruneau in Paris adds to the European contingent in the chapter. Bruneau works closely with the firm’s fund formation team, structuring various investment funds.
Debevoise also boasts a respected bankruptcy & restructuring group, which is currently representing Delta Air Lines. New York-based Steven Gross chairs the group and features prominently in our insolvency & restructuring chapter. Gross advised Globo Comunicações e Participações SA in the successful completion of the restructuring of approximately $1.3 billion of its debt and was recommended to researchers on a number of occasions. Peter Borowitz joins him in the section. “Very highly regarded” Wolcott Dunham appears in the upper reaches of our research into the insurance and reinsurance sector.

Dunham has led the Debevoise teams as outside counsel on the majority of the demutualisations in the US life insurance industry and in May 2007 was appointed by former Governor Eliot Spitzer as a member of the New York state commission to modernise the regulation of the financial services, backing up one source’s assertion that he’s “well respected within the industry”. Nicholas Potter is co-chair for the Americas of the firm’s insurance industry group and his work on corporate transactions was brought to our attention. Highlights include representing Merrill Lynch in its pending sale of Merrill Lynch Life Insurance Company and ML Life Insurance Company of New York to AEGON for $1.3 billion.

Ivan Mattei co-chairs the firm’s project finance group and appears in the related chapter. Mattei led the Debevoise team representing Financial Security Assurance in the $1.4 billion Chicago Skyway refinancing. Alan Paley, co-chair of the firm’s securities group, features in the capital markets chapter.

DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Mary Jo White heads the litigation practice at the firm and appears in both the commercial litigation and business crime chapters. White is the former US attorney for the Southern District of New York and is a member of the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers. “First-rate” Neil Eggleston in Washington, DC also appears in the business crime chapter and is said to be “very good in the securities enforcement arena”. David W Rivkin joins White in the New York section of the litigation chapter and Peter Rees in London adds an international dimension to the listing. Respondents to our survey also noted Rees’s pre-eminence in construction disputes – he also appears in the construction chapter and features prominently for commercial arbitration. Mark Friedman joins him in the London section of the arbitration chapter.

Rivkin is another practitioner with more than one listing on the following pages. An excellent showing in the arbitration research – where he emerges as one of the practice area’s most respected names – complements his entry in the litigation section. He and Donald Francis Donovan form what sources rate as “an impressive duo in New York”. Barton Legum in Paris, a former chief of the US government’s NAFTA arbitration division, completes the firm’s excellent showing. Highlights for the firm in the arbitration arena include representing Argentina’s largest creditor as it seeks to enforce a $750 million judgment against the country.

Molly Boast, another member of the firm’s litigation department, appears in the competition chapter where she is rated as a “superstar” and “exceptionally good”. Recent highlights include the representation of Domtar in its combination with Weyerhaeuser’s fine paper business.

IP, IT AND COMMUNICATIONS
New York-based Bruce Keller and David Bernstein both make the cut in the newly added chapter on internet & e-commerce. This is in addition to Keller & Bernstein’s continued presence in our trademarks chapter. The Regulatory Communications section highlights the international dimension to the firm’s practice with Dmitri Nikiforov in Moscow recommended by some of the practice area’s leading lights. Jeffrey Cunard in Washington, DC brings the firm’s showing in the chapter to two.

Steven Alden chairs the firm’s real estate group and is a member of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers. Alden boasts a broad practice incorporating sales and purchase, development and leasing, lending and borrowing. His entry brings Debevoise’s impressive listing on the following pages to a close.