Greenberg Traurig LLP - The Who's Who Legal 100 2012

What is the Who's Who Legal 100?

Management labour and employment emerges as one of the firm’s strongest suits, with seven of its lawyers featuring prominently. The firm is steadfast in its approach to helping clients navigate the evolving labour market and seeks to help clients make informed decisions. In Florida, Peter Zinober specialises in the defence of employment discrimination cases and labour management relations and is considered “first class”. Joseph Fleming is a “talented litigator” having represented clients such as government entities, national and international airlines, utilities companies, land developers and mining interests in cases involving collective bargaining, employment discrimination and workplace safety. Richard McCrea is an employment “guru”, his significant experience including defending Pinellas County Florida Sheriff in a class action filed by a detention deputy representing approximately 1,000 detention deputies seeking unpaid wages for meal breaks and roll-call periods. Based in the Philadelphia office, Robert Goldich has “vast experience”, gained over more than 30 years, and specialises in representing employers in all aspects of labour and employee relations, including general counselling as well as negotiations and dispute resolution. Goldich has developed a “sterling reputation” for his ERISA litigation and has represented clients in actions amounting to an excess of $1 billion. In Amsterdam, TMJ (Dorothé) Smits is “widely recognised” for her labour and employment expertise and specialises in individual and collective employment law nationally and at EU level.

Building on the firm’s employment strength, Greenberg Traurig’s reputation for corporate immigration is “first rate” and four lawyers appear in the corresponding chapter. Laura Foote Reiff advises both US and international companies on transfers of personnel and compliance with immigration law. Reiff is particularly “revered” for her work advising manufacturing and IT companies on the immigration aspects of worker shortages. Martha Schoonover is “greatly respected” for her practice assisting employers in obtaining visas for personnel as well as labour certifications and permanent resident status for professionals and priority workers. Dawn Lurie is praised for her “sound reasoning” and dedication to clients. Lurie assists many multinational companies in the industrial, retail, service, real estate, health-care, pharmaceutical and technology sectors.

The firm’s environment practice is one of its oldest and the team consists of more than 60 lawyers with expertise covering litigation, compliance, auditing, transactions and due diligence and brownfields development to name but a few. We select four lawyers at the firm to appear in the environment chapter. In Philadelphia, David Mandelbaum co-chairs the national environmental practice and is known for helping clients with the most complex of cases. Mandelbaum is a “technical litigator” and has represented clients in some of the government’s superfund matters including natural resource damage.

The “very knowledgeable” David Weinstein, located in Washington, DC, handles both civil and criminal cases and helps clients to implement crisis management strategies. Alfred Malefatto has been practising for over 30 years and has represented Fortune 500 companies and governments in environmental permitting, enforcement and transactional matters in addition to Florida land use proceedings. Malefatto uses his experience to keep clients up to date on regulatory trends and developments.

Four lawyers appear in the real estate chapter. Greenberg Traurig’s real estate practice is “highly lauded” and most recently the team advised Newark’s TreeTop Development on its acquisition of a four property portfolio of mixed-use buildings in the Manhattan residential market. Chairman of the real estate practice and chairman of the New York office, Robert Ivanhoe is a “widely recognised” figure in the market. Ivanhoe is a “great technician” and concentrates on complex financings and restructurings in addition to M&A activity in all asset classes of real estate. Steven Fleissig is “well known” for his real estate finance know-how, and his practice encompasses advising on purchase, sale, lease and financing matters in addition to restructurings and workouts. Co-chair of the Chicago real estate practice group Michael Fishman’s work is “found to be of the highest quality”. His practice focuses on finance, private equity and real estate fund formation and he has completed a significant number of deals in Mexico.

Other leading individuals in the research include Dennis Block who is featured in the corporate governance and M&A chapters and Lori Cohen who receives acclaim for her intellectual property practice in the fields of life sciences and product liability.

With a host of lawyers recognised for their exceptional abilities on an international level, Greenberg Traurig earns a place among the premier law firms in the world.