Sullivan & Cromwell’s Litigation Group and partners Sharon Nelles and Julia Malkina have been honored with this year’s New York Law Journal Professional Excellence Awards. The Litigation Group has been named the “Litigation Department of the Year” in Finance, Sharon Nelles has been named a “Distinguished Leader,” and Julia Malkina has been named a “Rising Star.
The Firm earned the “Litigation Department of the Year” in Finance for steering Wells Fargo and Standard Chartered Bank to major regulatory settlements, handling post-Cyan securities cases, and representing MUFG, the largest bank in Japan, in antitrust benchmarking litigation, among other matters. “S&C is known for its generalist approach, which is important when dealing with any type of litigation matter, but essential in a corporate crisis,” wrote the New York Law Journal, adding that the Firm is able to guide clients through crises “by drawing from the best minds and a wealth of varied experiences.”
Distinguished Leader Sharon Nelles was recognized for her ability to manage one of the Firm’s largest practices, particularly in this challenging time. “More than any of our team’s wins over the last year, however, I have been proud of and inspired by the way in which we came together to continue our successful work in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic,” she told the publication. “From the moment the crisis began, I was determined that our clients would never notice a difference in the level of service that they received from us. I am proud to say that even as we moved to a 100 percent remote workforce, we achieved this goal.”
Rising Star Julia Malkina was honored as one of the “most promising lawyers under 40.” Julia’s recent representations include “precedent-setting cases charting the standard and evidence courts may consider for rebutting price impact in securities actions following the Supreme Court’s Halliburton II decision, delineating the limits of the Commodity Exchange Act’s extraterritorial reach under the Supreme Court’s Morrison decision, and testing important issues left unresolved by the Supreme Court’s Cyan decision.” Julia told the publication: “Try your best in all things big and small and take every opportunity to learn and grow. You never know what will have a profound impact on your career.”