McDermott Will & Emery LLP - The Who's Who Legal 100 2012

What is the Who's Who Legal 100?

Corporate tax remains the firm’s strongest suit with nine lawyers selected for inclusion in this section. The firm’s tax practice is one of the largest in the world and advises multinational corporations, large private businesses, financial institutions and individuals. In Chicago, Lowell Yoder is head of the US and international tax practice group and specialises in multi-jurisdictional business structures and the use of special purpose foreign entities. He is described as a “great asset” to the firm. In Washington, DC, Stephen Wells is partner in charge of the office’s tax practice and focuses on advising on the taxation of corporate ventures, reorganisations and restructurings, acquisitions and dispositions. Also in the DC office, Steven Hannes is a “first-rate” lawyer and is best known for his representation of multinational corporations in tax controversies. Peter Faber in the New York office focuses on corporate and business tax planning and controversy work and he regularly represents clients at the audit and appellate levels of the Internal Revenue Service and in litigation before the federal courts. London’s Peter Nias is “excellent” at advising companies on corporate commercial tax matters and individuals on wealth preservation techniques, while Dirk Pohl heads the Munich office as well as the German tax practice group and is a “superb” counsellor and litigator.

Six lawyers feature in the competition section. The firm’s practice is centred in Washington, DC, and two lawyers represent this office: Joseph Winterscheid and Raymond Jacobsen. Winterscheid is head of the firm’s global antitrust and competition practice group and has “vast experience” in advising clients on competition aspects of mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures as well as pricing and distribution practices. Jacobsen is head of the firm’s regulatory and governmental affairs business unit and is “internationally renowned” for his antitrust litigation practice and has experience representing clients in the defence, medical devices, biotech, consumer product, energy and health care industries. In Brussels, Martina Maier heads the firm’s European antitrust and competition practice group focusing on German and EU competition law. She is widely recognised as a “leading light” in the field.

The firm receives four recommendations in the business crime defence chapter, a practice area in which it has tried hundreds of cases in federal and state courts throughout the US. Michael Kendall is head of the white-collar defence group and based in Boston, where he focuses on the representation of health care companies. Gordon Greenberg, a former federal prosecutor serving as the Chief of the Financial Investigations Unit in the LA US attorney’s office, specialises in business crime investigations and trials and is “highly rated”.

Three lawyers represent the firm in the trade and customs section, among whom David Levine is a “pre-eminent” figure in the trade bar and advises on customs, export controls, trade sanctions and anti-corruption laws and compliance programmes out of the DC office. In addition, he represents clients in proceedings involving anti-dumping and countervailing duty.

Intellectual property is a key growth area of the firm. Two lawyers feature in the corresponding chapter in this edition but with significant hires over the last year the firm looks set to increase its prominence in this field considerably over the next few years. Recent work includes winning a bench trial in a patent infringement lawsuit brought by client Aristocrat against defendants International Game Technology. Joel Freed in Washington, DC, is a “leading notary” in the field of IP litigation and is also well known for his patent related transactions. In London, the “first-rate” Hiroshi Sheraton specialises in the life sciences field and represents client in high-profile patent cases across several jurisdictions.

Certain individuals at the firm receive multiple listings, highlighting the depth of expertise within the firm. Thomas Murphy excels in the corporate and finance sectors of M&A and capital markets, and Michael Pope, who ranks highly in the commercial litigation, insurance and reinsurance and product liability sections, appears in more chapters than any other at the firm.

McDermott Will & Emery have gone from strength to strength, demonstrating the extent of their expertise and global reach in this year’s research.