Profile: Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP - Who's Who Legal '70'

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

CORPORATE
Three lawyers make the cut in the insolvency and restructuring chapter. Willkie Farr’s team recently represented a group of investors led by Fortress Investment Group in their acquisition of chapter 11 debtor Conseco Finance Company. Myron Trepper, Marc Abrams and Matthew Feldman are all listed at the New York office. Trepper is considered “a dean of the bar” and is “respected worldwide”, Feldman’s expertise on cross-border insolvency cases is admired, and chair of the business reorganisation and restructuring department Marc Abrams also has extensive international experience in the field.
The private funds chapter is home to three lawyers from the firm’s New York and Washington, DC offices. The funds group represented Centerbridge Capital Partners in its US$250 million investment in Dana Corp in February 2008. In DC, Barry Barbash is considered “fantastic”, and was noted for his mutual fund, hedge fund, broker-dealer and investment adviser regulatory work. His fund formation skill is widely admired in the community. James Silk, from the same office, joins Barbash on our list. He received praise for his counsel to investment advisers. In New York, the “excellent” Daniel Schloendorn is also noted for his fund of funds expertise and his representation of fund managers.

Two partners make the cut in the corporate tax chapter. In New York, the “very savvy” Richard Reinhold chairs the tax department at the office. His practice encompasses tax in relation to transactions, domestic and international bankruptcy as well as financial products. In Paris, the “top-tier” Pierre Ullman’s “five-star” practice focuses on the French and international tax aspects of mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, international investment structures and financial instruments and derivatives. He has particular experience of handling these matters in real estate projects. The tax practice was part of a group that represented Fortress Investment Group and Centerbridge Partners affiliates in the $8.9 billion acquisition of Penn National Gaming.

In the mergers and acquisitions chapter, two Willkie Farr lawyers from the Paris office were recommended. Daniel Payan’s private equity expertise was noted and Daniel Hurstel has a “very strong reputation”. The firm worked on oncology company Pharmion Corp’s recent $2.9 billion acquisition by Celgene Corp.

Hurstel appears again in the capital markets section. Respected for his “responsive, intelligent” approach, he represented Groupe APRR in its French-government sponsored IPO.

Chairman Jack Nusbaum, based in the New York office, carries the banner for the firm in the corporate governance chapter. He is said to be particularly good at providing advice in change in control transactions.

In the insurance and reinsurance chapter, Mitchell Auslander was described to researchers as “an excellent lawyer” by contributors to the survey. He focuses his practice on insurance litigation worldwide and has worked on a government investigation of finite risk reinsurance products.

REGULATORY COMMUNICATIONS
A trio of lawyers also represent the firm in the regulatory communications chapter. The group’s regulatory experience includes successfully lobbying Congress to include a provision in the 1996 Telecommunications Act to grant independent publishers access to telephone subscriber listings. At the DC office, Philip Verveer’s “stellar practice” drew a great deal of praise. The “very knowledgeable” Stephen Bell joins him from that office. In Frankfurt, Sven-Erik Heun comes “highly recommended” for what was described to researchers as “a domestic practice to shout about”.

LITIGATION
The firm achieves representation in both the US and Europe in the commercial litigation chapter. Richard Posen from the New York office appears alongside Dominique Mondolini from the Paris office. Recent cases the firm has tried include its defence of Bloomberg LP in patent infringement litigation brought by Reuters.

Benito Romano of the New York office features in the business crime chapter. Romano is a former US attorney and has represented an audit committee created by a major municipality to investigate underfunding of public employee pensions and non-disclosures in bond offerings.
Another well-known litigator is William Rooney in New York. He appears with Jacques-Phillipe Gunther from the Paris office in the competition chapter. Both are considered “very smart practitioners”; Rooney’s experience also includes mergers, investigations and counselling regarding the Sherman Act, whereas Gunther, who heads the European competition and antitrust practice, is known for his complex disputes work and his expertise in state aid.

ENVIRONMENT AND REAL ESTATE
Environment lawyer Donald Elliot is a “very fine” practitioner, operating from the Washington, DC office. He is chair of the firm’s worldwide environmental health and safety department and is a former counsel to the US Environmental Protection Agency. His practice includes both counselling and litigation.

Eugene Pinover is the final practitioner to appear from the firm in the following pages. Chair of the New York real estate practice, he specialises in representing clients from the US and internationally in sales, acquisitions, restructuring and sophisticated financings and development projects.