Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP - The Who's Who Legal 100 2012

What is the Who's Who Legal 100?

Marcia Goldstein is “the gem” of the firm’s business finance and restructuring team. Among her most notable experiences, she has been the lead restructuring lawyer for AIG, Kaupthing Bank and General Growth Companies. “I cannot praise her highly enough,” says one source, and plenty of others agree, leading us to name her our lawyer of the year for insolvency and restructuring work. A trio of other New York attorneys are also recognised, including Harvey Miller, who has acted for Lehman Brothers Holdings and Texaco. Richard Krasnow is described as “deeply knowledgeable” and gained votes for his “user-friendly” advice. Alfredo Pérez heads the business finance and restructuring group in Houston and is “renowned” for his representation of Chapter 11 debtors, while London’s Adam Plainer is considered “a superb adviser”. The “first-rate” Martin Sosland has recently led the firm’s representation in several major Chapter 11 debtor cases, including SemGroup, Crescent Resources, Texas Rangers Baseball Partners, and Blockbuster. Jean-Dominique Daudier de Cassini is a partner in the Paris office and “very well-respected” for his insolvency work.

Five lawyers are listed in the corporate governance chapter. Holly Gregory’s clients include Comverse Technology, The Ford Foundation, JC Penney, Pfizer, Prudential Financial, TE Connectivity, and Westinghouse Electric. Peers describe her New York practice as “second to none” and she is “first choice” for many big-name clients. Fellow New York attorney Ira Millstein is a “talented strategist”, while in Dallas Mary Korby is “a leader” in the corporate governance market and also features in the M&A chapter. Also nominated for both corporate governance and M&A, Michael Saslaw gives “reliable, insightful advice”, while respondents to our survey commented that E Norman Veasey is “the must-have lawyer” for corporate crisis management.

Weil’s New York office has a strong tax team, with five practitioners listed. Stuart Goldring is an “expert” in federal income tax matters involving financially troubled companies. Representative clients include Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and Bruno’s Supermarkets. Martin Amdur is “immensely knowledgeable” and Kimberly Blanchard has “enviable experience” of international transactional work. Kenneth Heitner is co-chair of the firm’s global tax practice and an “elite” tax lawyer, according to sources. Fellow co-chair Martin Pollack has extensive experience in the structuring and documentation of private equity and merger and acquisition transactions and is “simply brilliant”.

The firm fields four nominees in the private funds chapter. John Fadely is based in Hong Kong and counts Legend Capital, Mizuho and Prax Capital among his clients. He has “an excellent understanding” of local markets and legislation, making him an “invaluable adviser”. A trio of lawyers from the New York office are recognised. The “outstanding” Shukie Grossman has extensive experience representing US and non-US private investment fund sponsors in structuring and negotiating the terms of domestic and offshore private investment funds. Jeffrey Tabak is one of the most highly regarded lawyers in the private funds chapter and has “a wealth of expertise and experience”. Barry Wolf’s clients include Lindsay Goldberg, Perella Weinberg Partners and American Securities and he has “brilliant commercial acumen”.

Weil also performs well in competition, environment, M&A and trade and customs and has listings in a further eight chapters. Its outstanding performance in this year’s research highlights the multi-jurisdictional and multi-disciplinary nature of its expertise.