Sullivan & Cromwell LLP - The Who's Who Legal 100 2013

What is the Who's Who Legal 100?

Sullivan & Cromwell boasts an “exceptionally strong” finance practice, with 11 lawyers featured in the capital markets chapter and a further 10 in banking. Robert Buckholz co-ordinates the corporate and finance group and is identified as “phenomenally strong” in equity derivatives matters. Alongside him, Jay Clayton and Andrew Soussloff are well regarded, the former particularly noted for the “multidisciplinary” nature of his advice in the capital markets field. The firm boasts a strong capital markets practice in Germany – “excellent problem-solver” Wolfgang Feuring manages the Frankfurt office; he is joined by Carsten Berrar and the “talented” Konstantin Technau.

“Banking superstar” Rodgin Cohen is “simply the best in the world”. With extensive experience in regulatory and securities work for a broad range of financial institutions, he has been “at the vanguard” of many major developments in banking law and also features in our M&A and corporate governance sections. He is joined in New York by the “extraordinarily talented” co-head of the financial institutions group Mitchell Eitel and Michael Wiseman, who clients and peers refer to as “a trusted source of advice”. In DC, William Kroener advises on supervision and regulation of financial institutions and is highly recommended as “a great dealmaker”.

The firm also stands out for its M&A and corporate governance expertise. Frank Aquila focuses his expertise on complex cross-border transactions and global ventures. Colleague Joseph Frumkin manages the mergers and acquisitions group and is lauded as “a leader in the field”. Corporate expert Alison Ressler is a “leading authority” on transactions involving large multinational financial institutions, having previously advised Barclays on the sale of Barclays Global Investors. James Morphy is “renowned on an international level”, benefiting from over 30 years’ experience in the field. London-based Tim Emmerson impresses peers and clients with his “practical and informed advice” to large companies in his capacity as head of the European M&A practice.

Dispute resolution is a key area for the firm, which is noted in both our commercial litigation and arbitration chapters. Karen Seymour is co-head of the litigation group, and is lauded for her “high-quality advocacy” in tough commercial cases. She is also listed in the business crime defence chapter. “Stand-out attorney” Gandolfo DiBlasi has taken a lead role in numerous cases, including insider trading investigations and government securities scandals, as well as diverse matters for financial services industry clients. Both have built up a substantial white-collar crime defence portfolio and are also featured in our business crime defence chapter, where the firm achieves five listings in total. Peers rate Robert Giuffra as “absolutely outstanding” for his wide-ranging expertise as head of the securities litigation practice. International disputes expert Joseph Neuhaus is “number one for matters in Latin America”. He is highly nominated in our arbitration chapter and coordinates the firm’s practice in this area, having acted extensively as both counsel and arbitrator.

The firm fields four lawyers in our competition chapter across its London, New York and Washington, DC, offices, demonstrating its extensive breadth of expertise. Yvonne Quinn and Daryl Libow co-head the firm’s antitrust practice, the latter heralded as “a leading light in the field”. As head of the EU competition group, Juan Rodriguez is “particularly skilled” in representing corporations in merger reviews across a range of industries including financial services, pharmaceuticals and IT. New York-based Steven Holley performs impressively in our research, nominated for his experience in antitrust counselling and litigation for a broad client base.

Public projects expert Sergio Galvis is dually listed in our project finance and public procurement chapters, noted particularly for his “significant expertise” across Latin America. With “fantastic” practitioners featured in a further five chapters including real estate, mining and corporate tax, Sullivan & Cromwell is clearly a market-leading firm performing at the top of its game.