Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP - The Who's Who Legal 100 2012

What is the Who's Who Legal 100?

Private funds is undoubtedly the firm’s strongest suit, with 10 of its attorneys appearing in the corresponding chapter, including our private funds lawyer of the year Jason Glover. Based in the London office, he has “unparalleled expertise”, having spent three years working in the private equity industry for AIFAL and what is now Duke Street Capital. Peers have “endless admiration for his exceptional work”. Six lawyers from the New York office are listed. The “excellent” Olga Gutman regularly represents sponsors of private equity and hedge funds including Breeden Capital Management, Brummer Capital Partners and Citigroup Alternative Investments. Glenn Sarno serves on the private investment funds committee of the New York City Bar Association and has represented both domestic and international fund sponsors while Jonathan Karen was commended to researchers as “utterly brilliant”. In Los Angeles Thomas Wuchenich is considered a “first-rate” counsel to sponsors of private equity funds, while in Palo Alto Michael Nooney’s project finance practice “commands great respect”.

Seven Simpson Thacher lawyers are listed in the M&A chapter and four of them are additionally listed for their corporate governance work. In New York, Alan Klein recently represented Microsoft Corporation in connection with its acquisition of Skype Global for $8.5 billion in cash and is a “top-quality transactional lawyer”. Richard Beattie, also of the New York office, is chairman of the firm and specialises in advising boards of directors and non-management directors on governance issues, investigations and litigation involving corporate officers and other crisis situations. The “outstanding” Robert Spatt garnered votes for his “sensible, reasoned advice”. Richard Capelouto is partner in the Palo Alto office and “has an excellent understanding of what really matters to clients”. In New York, Mario Ponce and Adam Signy are praised for their “consistent excellence” in transactional matters. David Sneider is head of the firm’s Tokyo office and has “fantastic local knowledge, which is a great asset to international clients”. He is listed in both the M&A and capital markets chapters.

Five other attorneys appear in the capital markets chapter, and the Tokyo office is strengthened by a further two names. The “impressively knowledgeable” Alan Cannon advises clients on a broad range of capital markets transactions, including securities offerings registered in the US, global initial public offerings by Japanese issuers and other international corporate finance transactions, while Takahiro Saito counts Elpida Memory, J-Power and Jupiter Telecommunications among his clients. John Lobrano and Walter Looney Jr are “widely respected names” in the New York office and William Hinman is “an authority” on capital markets in Palo Alto.

Simpson Thacher’s “world-class” reputation for competition work is borne out by our research – five lawyers are listed in the corresponding chapter. Aimee Goldstein is currently representing CSL in a class action litigation alleging a Section One conspiracy among participants in the plasma therapies industry and is a “trusted adviser on cartel matters”. Kevin Arquit’s experience as a former general counsel of the Federal Trade Commission benefits his “brilliant” antitrust practice. He successfully represented DoubleClick in its acquisition by Google, and defended MasterCard in two related actions brought by American Express and Discover. Joseph Tringali completes a trio of names from the New York office and earns plaudits for his “insightful advice”. London partner David Vann is “a very talented attorney” with experience of antitrust work in both the pharmaceutical and technology industries, while in Washington, DC, Arman Oruc is considered “an expert on complex antitrust litigation”.

Simpson Thacher earns multiple inclusions in nine others chapters, performing particularly well in litigation, insurance and banking. The firm’s numerous and diverse listings reflect its high standing in the global legal community.