Most Highly Regarded Firms: Insolvency & Restructuring 2009
Several firms are listed in multiple countries. Allen & Overy LLP has a strong contingent in the following pages with a total of six lawyers.
| The International Who’s Who of Insolvency & Restructuring Lawyers 2009 | |
|---|---|
| Lawyer | Firm |
| Marcia Goldstein | Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, New York |
| Harvey Miller | Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, New York |
| Martin Bienenstock | Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP, New York |
| Corinne Ball | Jones Day LLP, New York |
| Richard Cieri | Kirkland & Ellis LLP, New york |
| Evelyn Biery | Fulbright & Jaworski LLP, Houston |
| Patricia Godfrey | Nabarro LLP, London |
| Derrick Tay | Ogilvy Renault LLP, Toronto |
| Patrick McCarthy QC | Barlow Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Calgary |
| Isabelle Didier | Daugherty Cabinet Isabelle Didier, Paris |
| Evan Flaschen | Bracewell & Giuliani LLP, New York |
| Hamish Anderson | Norton Rose LLP, London |
| Robin Phelan | Haynes and Boone LLP, Dallas |
| Nick Segal | Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, London |
| Robert Rosenberg | Latham & Watkins LLP, New York |
These include the "highly recommended" Mark Sterling, who is the senior managing partner of the firm's restructuring and insolvency department. Ian Field is "very impressive and easy to work with" and the "hugely experienced" Gordon Stewart is also listed from the firm's London office. Ken Coleman, head of the US restructuring group, is listed in New York, while David Kidd and Rob Abendroth are included in Hong Kong and the Netherlands, respectively.
Bingham McCutchen LLP is well known as a leading firm in this practice area. Its four representatives in the following pages hail from three countries and the firm is praised for its international work. James Roome leads the firm in our research and specialises in UK and cross-border restructurings. Barry Russell, who is also at the London office, is "a great lawyer" and Michael Reilly in New York is "first rate". Hideyuki Sakai is considered to be "one of the best for insolvency in Japan". The firm's recent clients have included Welcome Break, Level One and Lyondell Basell.
Corinne Ball from Jones Day performed extremely well in our research, and is a "really fantastic" insolvency practitioner. David Heiman, Michael Rutstein and Simon Powell, based in Ohio, London and Hong Kong, respectively, also represent the firm in the following pages.
White & Case LLP has four lawyers in four cities listed in this publication: Dan Hamilton in London, Andrew DeNatale in New York, Lech Gilicinski in Warsaw and Sven-Holger Undritz in Hamburg, all of whom were highly regarded by their peers.
United States
Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP stands out in the US - the firm is the current holder of our Insolvency and Restructuring Law Firm of the Year Award and the individual award for this practice area is held by Marcia Goldstein, who heads the firm's business, finance and restructuring department. Her colleague Harvey Miller is one of the best-known bankruptcy practitioners in the US. Goldstein and Miller are our two most highly nominated lawyers in this practice area and six Weil Gotshal lawyers appear in the following pages. The firm's insolvency and restructuring team has represented, among others, Trump Atlantic City Associates, General Electric, Vertis and Reuters.
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP from across the United States appear in our book: John Butler is "really good" and listed in Chicago; Jan Baker in New York is "excellent" and Gregg Galardi in Delaware is "outstanding". Recent restructuring work at the firm has included acting for the Winn-Dixie grocery store chain, Xerox Corporation and Warnaco.
Davis Polk & Wardwell has been prominent in recent months for its work related to the financial downturn - it is lead counsel to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and retains corporate clients such as Santander, Citi and Ford. In New York Donald Bernstein is "a giant" and Karen Wagner and Marshall Huebner also appear, while Christopher Perchet represents the firm's Paris office.
Richard Cieri, from Kirkland & Ellis LLP, was highly nominated and is listed in New York together with Theodore Freedman. Cieri's clients have included Calpine and Tower Automotive. James Sprayregen recently rejoined K&E after a two-year spell at Goldman Sachs and is listed in Chicago. In California, Richard Wynne is "very respected" and is praised for his work representing investment funds against Adelphia.
Sidley Austin LLP's sizeable restructuring and insolvency practice is represented by five lawyers. Sally Neely in Los Angeles is included in the following pages, as are James Conlan, Larry Nyhan and Bruce Bernstein from the Chicago office. Patrick Corr also features and is based in London.
In California, bankruptcy boutique firm Stutman Treister & Glatt PC enjoys "a very good reputation" and provides four names for our list - Ralph Mabey, Isaac Pachulski, Robert Greenfield and John Shaffer.
In New York, Robert Rosenberg, one of five nominees from Latham & Watkins LLP, is "an expert bankruptcy lawyer". Martin Bienenstock of Dewey & LeBoeuf stands out as "a brilliant and creative lawyer" who is "highly regarded". Bracewell & Giuliani LLP's Evan Flaschen stands out and is noted for his expertise in Australian markets, in particular.
In Texas, Evelyn Biery of Fulbright & Jaworski LLP received a phenomenal number of nominations. She is based in Houston and has represented clients like EOTT Energy Partners, Calpine and Mirant. Robin Phelan represents Haynes and Boone LLP and is a "well-known figure" and "a real specialist".
Canada
Derrick Tay from Ogilvy Renault LLP was the most highly nominated lawyer in Canada. The firm has been noted for its work for Mittal Canada and for Nortel, among others; and Tay's colleague in Montreal, Louis Gouin, also features.
The "superb" Patrick McCarthy QC is listed from Borden Ladner Gervais LLP in Calgary and Clive Bird is also listed from the firm in Vancouver. Recent work has included involvement in the matters of JTI-Macdonald Corp, Third Party Asset-Backed Commercial Paper and Calpine.
Jay Carfagnini is "one of the best" in Canada and heads Goodmans LLP's corporate restructuring team. Gale Rubenstein is "highly regarded" and Robert Chadwick is also listed. The firm has recently worked for, among others, Nortel Networks, Laidlaw, Atkins Nutritional (Canada) and Kaiser Aluminum Group.
McCarthy Tétrault LLP also performed well in our research: Kevin McElcheran, Philippe Bélanger and Sylvain Vauclair were highly nominated. The firm has recently worked with Ford Credit Canada, Ainsworth Lumber and Calpine.
Bob Thornton and James Grout from ThorntonGroutFinnigan LLP are also both listed from Canada. Thornton's recent client list features the likes of Bell Canada, GE Capital Aviation Services and Calpine, while Grout's specialism lies in the automotive, insurance and mining sectors.
Europe
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP has a strong European contingent in this book. Nick Segal and Ken Baird represent the firm's London office, and both were highly nominated. In Hamburg, Lars Westpfahl is "impressive", and Raffaele Lener in Rome is also recommended by our sources.
Hamish Anderson from Norton Rose LLP is recognised by his peers as "very knowledgeable". The firm's recent work in this area has included working on the restructurings of Flightlease, the aircraft leasing division of Swissair, HIH Insurance and residential developer City Lofts.
Clifford Chance LLP also performed very well in our research. Kolja von Bismarck in Germany is "a very intelligent lawyer" who "is a pleasure to work with". Reinhard Dammann in Paris, meanwhile, is "very well known". Mark Hyde, head of the firm's practice in this area, and Nicholas Frome are listed at the London office.
At Lovells LLP in the UK, Robin Spencer heads the firm's business restructuring and insolvency practice and is listed alongside Christopher Grierson and the "excellent" Stephen Foster.
Patricia Godfrey at Nabarro LLP is among the most highly nominated insolvency lawyers in England and was enthusiastically recommended by her peers. She has impressive experience of insolvency and restructuring work both in the UK and on the continent, particularly in Germany - she heads both Nabarro LLP's insolvency and restructuring team as well as its German group.
Elsewhere the "dynamic" Isabelle Didier is "extremely well regarded" and practises in Paris. Bob Wessels, in the Netherlands, was hailed as "superb" and "one of a kind" by interviewees.
Leading Benelux firm NautaDutilh's Robert Van Galen is listed, and he has recently worked on the restructurings of Global Telesystems Europe, Fokker and Yukos in the Netherlands.
Schultze & Braun, which our sources consider to be "one of the top insolvency firms in Germany", provides two practitioners in the following pages. Eberhard Braun represents the firm in Germany, while Annerose Tashiro is listed in London.
Brigitte Umbach-Spahn and Karl Wüthrich are listed from the Swiss law firm Wenger Plattner. Pekka Jaatinen appears in Finland and represents Castrén & Snellman, of which he is managing partner.
Rest of the World
The Singapore firm Drew & Napier LLC earns two listings: Sushil Nair and Davinder Singh SC, Singh recently advised the Singaporean government on the implications of the Lehman Brothers downfall.
Two Cayman Islands-based firms are represented in the following pages. Walkers LLP provides Sandie Corbett, managing partner of the firm's insolvency group, and Guy Locke. Alistair Walters and Ross McDonough make an appearance from Campbells in the same jurisdiction.
Dominic Emmett of Corrs Chambers Westgarth is our most highly nominated lawyer in Australia for this area. He is considered by his peers to be "an excellent restructuring lawyer". Ian Congdon also listed in Australia enjoys "a great reputation".