Sidley Austin LLP - Who's Who Legal 70

What is the Who's Who Legal 70?

Sidley Austin LLP in Who's Who Legal

	Capital Markets
	11

	Management Labour & Employment
	1

	Corporate Governance
	2

	Environment
	7

	Oil & Gas
	2

	Product Liability Defence
	3

	Internet & e-Commerce
	2

	Real Estate
	2

	Patents
	4

	Corporate Tax
	2

	Commercial Litigation
	1

	Mergers & Acquisitions
	3

	Competition
	3

	Insurance & Reinsurance
	6

	Corporate Immigration
	1

	Commercial Arbitration
	2

	Trade & Customs
	9

	Banking
	3

	Insolvency & Restructuring
	5

	Private funds
	6

	Aviation
	2

	Life Sciences
	8

	Business Crime Defence
	2

	Regulatory Communications
	3

Today it stands as one of the world's leading international firms, with more than 1,800 lawyers based in 16 offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia.

The firm amasses a highly impressive 86 appearances in this book, with a presence in 23 of the practice areas we cover. Its Chicago office provides nearly half, and it is this breadth and depth of expertise that earns Sidley our Who's Who Legal law firm of the year for Illinois award for the third time.

Finance
The Chicago office contributes five lawyers to the firm's 11-strong contingent in the capital markets chapter. The firm is particularly well regarded in this area, and was rated number one issuer counsel by deal value for international debt by Thomson Reuters (US$194.4 billion from 207 offerings) in 2008. In the past year Sidley represented Entergy Corporation, as sponsor, in a transaction that, along with another related deal, raised US$965 million for two Entergy subsidiaries to finance repair costs from Hurricanes Rita and Katrina and to create reserves for future storms. Internationally, it represented Country Garden, one of China's leading property developers, in its issue of US$600 million convertible bonds. Overall, the lawyers at Sidley were summed up by one contributor as "our most effective competitors". Co-head of Sidley's global securitisation and structured finance practice Thomas Albrecht is "truly one of the best", while Thomas Brown is viewed as "an excellent lawyer to have on the other side". Gary Stern is recognised for his secured finance and securitisations both at home and abroad, while Perry Shwachman was picked out for his representation of insurance companies, banks and other financial institutions. Kevin Hochberg also stood out as "very efficient" and "hugely respected".

The New York office is also well represented; four partners make the cut. Joseph McLaughlin is "revered", while Norman Slonaker, Edward Fine and the "superb" Renwick Martin also feature. The San Francisco office is home to two further nominees. Paul Pringle has also advised underwriters such as Hilton Hotels, Southern California Gas and Walt Disney, while Dale Lum has "an impressive international practice". Overall the firm is recognised as "a high-calibre international player" in this field.

Sidley counts Merrill Lynch and Barclays Bank among its banking clients, and gains a presence in the corresponding chapter through the inclusion of three leading lawyers. Bruce Bernstein is "well known for complex, large-scale transactions", while James Clark is recognised for his work on large-scale financing deals in the US and Europe. The "truly outstanding" James Looman completes the featured trio. Bernstein makes a second appearance in the insolvency and restructuring chapter, where he is joined by his colleague in the Chicago office Larry Nyhan, the highly rated Sally Neely in California and the "outstanding" Patrick Corr in London.

The firm also performs well in our private funds research, with a track record that includes advising Merrill Lynch in the combination of its investment management business with BlackRock and companies such as Citadel and Fortress Investment Management Group LLC. Five partners appear from three countries. "The go-to lawyer" in Chicago is David Sawyier who appears alongside William Kerr, co-head of the investment funds, advisers and derivatives group. Michael Schmidtberger, who also co-heads the group, is based in the New York office, from where Susan Lewis also appears. Effie Vasilopoulos's investment funds work was the subject of repeated praise in Hong Kong, and the firm's practice was further strengthened by the hire of Bruce Gardner in the London office in April 2008.

Trade and Competition
Sidley has an "outstanding reputation for trade defence work", according to our sources, and has a market-leading 11 lawyers in our trade and customs chapter. The firm has won our award for this practice area for five consecutive years and is "hugely well respected". The DC office leads the way with six practitioners on our list, and has "benefited hugely" from the return of the "profoundly respected" Daniel Price. Price recently completed a period as assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs in the Bush administration, where he was the senior White House official responsible for international economic issues, including international trade and investment. Also in DC, David Palmeter has acted as counsel to the government of Brazil in an EC challenge to import measures regarding retreaded tyres, and he appears alongside the chair of the firm's international trade and dispute resolution practice, Andrew Shoyer, who is "one of the most respected names in the business". One customs lawyer says he would rank Shoyer above any of his peers, while Neil Ellis combines strong international trade and antitrust practices. Richard Belanger also stands out. Amelia Porges is known for advising the medical device industry on price controls and other regulatory barriers in China and other non-US markets and brings the DC contingent to six.

Sidley is similarly pre-eminent in Switzerland, with three partners included. Scott Andersen is managing partner of the Geneva office and is known to be "excellent for dispute settlement within the WTO". He is also well known for his work for Airbus, a client he shares with Todd Friedbacher, who was commended for his work as counsel to the government of Japan in a successful WTO challenge against the United States' "zeroing" procedures. Nicolas Lockhart from the same office also polled well. Two further partners appear in Belgium: Laurent Ruessmann is among the most highly regarded individuals in the country, while managing partner of the Brussels office Richard Weiner divides his time between the Belgian capital and Washington, DC, and is an "acknowledged leader in both jurisdictions".

The firm's presence in the competition chapter is divided across three offices. Stephen Kinsella divides his time between London and Brussels and is one of the most highly nominated individuals in the research worldwide. He was described as "undeniably one of the most knowledgeable experts in the field". Stephen Spinks was repeatedly recommended in Brussels; John Treece from the Chicago office also appears.

Life Sciences and IP
This year, for the first time, our publication looks at life sciences, another practice area in which Sidley fields a strong contingent. Seven lawyers from the firm are featured, all are based in the US. Scott Bass heads the global life sciences team and is "the cream of the crop" for FDA enforcement and regulatory issues. Paul Kalb heads the national health-care group and counts Bayer, Eli Lilly and Genentech among his representative clients. In Chicago, "major player" Michael Davis, Sara Gourley and David Pritikin, chair of the firm's national intellectual property practice, are listed. The "excellent" Debra Pole in California and Thomas Beck in New York give the firm a further presence, and overall Sidley is "undeniably one of the best in the US for all types of life science work".

Pole, Davis and Gourley, co-heads of the product liability and mass torts practice, are all further recognised in the product liability chapter, with Gourley ranking among the leading figures worldwide. Gourley stands out for her pharmaceutical, medical device and blood products liability litigation, and the "excellent" Davis joins her from the Chicago office. Pole is regarded as a "real asset to her firm".

There is also some overlap of the life sciences and patent research. The "great" Thomas Beck and David Pritikin appear once more, alongside "first-class litigator" Richard Cederoth and the "very fine" Bryan Medlock in Dallas.

Corporate
The firm is well known both in the US and overseas for its corporate work. Recent deals have included the leveraged buyout of Equity Office Properties Trust by The Blackstone Group for $39 billion and the leveraged buyout of First Data Corporation by KKR for $29 billion. In addition, the firm has represented the boards of directors, officers, audit committees or special committees of AT&T, FedEx, JPMorgan Chase, Kmart and 3M Corporation.

Sidley's standing in the market is based, at least in part, on the strong performance of two "leaders in the field": Thomas Cole and Frederick Lowinger. Both appear in the corporate governance and M&A chapters. Cole has chaired the firm's executive committee for over 10 years and worked on numerous private equity transactions, including EOP/Blackstone and CNL Hotels/Morgan Stanley. Frederick Lowinger, co-head of the firm's M&A and private equity practice and head of the corporate group at the Chicago office, was heavily involved in the aforementioned sale of First Data Corporation in a leveraged buyout by KKR, and is a "dean of the bar". Imad Qasim joins them in the M&A chapter.

Elsewhere, head of the firm's real estate practice Virginia Aronson is recognised in the corresponding chapter as an "expert", and Marketa Lindt gains a place in the corporate immigration chapter as one of the leading lawyers in Chicago in the field. Jeffrey Berman's "in-depth knowledge" of labour and employment matters sees him featured in the following pages.

Insurance and Aviation
Sidley's six lawyers in the insurance chapter are based in Chicago and London. Dorothy Cory-Wright is head of Sidley's London-based insurance and reinsurance litigation practice and "one of the city's leading lights", while Nigel Montgomery is also highly rated. In the US, "outstanding reinsurance litigator" Susan Stone co-heads the firm's global insurance and reinsurance disputes practice. She appears alongside James Stinson, co-chair of the insurance and financial services group and leader of the reinsurance and insurance insolvency practices. Regulatory expert Kenneth Wylie and disputes specialist William Sneed complete the contingent.

The four-strong complement in the aviation chapter is drawn from three Sidley offices. Dennis Bekemeyer is senior counsel in the New York office and a "valuable source of advice to his clients", and Rory Kelleher is equally well regarded. Richard Hughes in London stood out for his aviation finance knowledge, while Sheila Sundvall in Chicago is "one of the pre-eminent aviation litigators in the US".

Disputes
Daniel Price makes a second appearance in the arbitration chapter, where he is listed alongside Stanimir Alexandrov, who is recognised for his international commercial and investor-state and trade-related disputes work. The DC office also sees the firm's only listing in the litigation chapter: managing partner Carter Phillips is picked for his "exceptional experience" - he has argued 54 cases in the Supreme Court since joining Sidley, out of a career total of 64.
Sidley's white-collar criminal defence team is represented by the "formidable" Thomas Green, who heads the practice, and the "very effective" Scott Lassar in Chicago.

Environment, Energy and other areas
The firm's five lawyers in the environment chapter include Angus Macbeth, who is "at the top of the game" and one of the leading lawyers in the field worldwide. A former chief of the Pollution Control Section and deputy assistant attorney general in the Land and Natural Resources Division of the US Department of Justice (DoJ), he is a "Superfund guru". David Buente heads the practice and is "at the peak of his powers"; he has represented clients such as American Electric Power, General Electric and Ford Motors in a range of matters. Timothy Webster is the third featured partner from the DC office and a "terrific trial lawyer in civil and criminal environmental matters". Robert Olian heads the Chicago office's environmental practice group and co-heads the national practice in this area, and he is joined by the "superb" Judith Praitis from the Los Angeles office.

The DC office also provides the two partners for our oil and gas chapter. Eugene Elrod heads the global energy regulatory group and "really knows his stuff", while William Williams is a "first-class energy regulatory lawyer".
Three Sidley lawyers appear in the regulatory communications chapter. Stephen Spinks adds to his previous listing in the competition section, while David Carpenter is also known for his antitrust and telecommunications expertise in the Chicago office. Clark Wadlow in DC heads the communications group and is "widely known and well respected" by his peers. From the same office, Alan Charles Raul gains a listing in the internet and e-commerce chapter and brings Sidley's impressive contingent to a close.