S&C topped Law360’s 2023 MVP awards: Eleven S&C partners earned recognitions, besting 76 participating firms to earn the top slot with the most winners. Their diverse range of practice areas reflects S&C’s deep bench across the Firm and its commitment to the highest quality client service. The partners were selected from more than 900 submissions.
A Co-Head of S&C’s Global Restructuring practice, Jim has played a leading role in some of the most high-profile, complex bankruptcy matters of the past year, including advising SVB Financial Group, the former parent of Silicon Valley Bank, and FTX Trading. He also won a critical ruling for Major League Baseball in a fight with bankrupt Diamond Sports Group over telecast rights.
Andy is a Co-Head of S&C’s Global Finance & Restructuring Group and has advised on some of the most complex bankruptcies of the past year, including FTX Trading, SVB Financial Group and Kidde-Fenwal, the first bankruptcy case that aims to resolve liabilities relating to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) found in drinking water throughout the United States.
Under Bob’s leadership as Co-Head of S&C’s Capital Markets Group, S&C was the top-ranked law firm as issuer’s counsel globally for 2022, advising on debt and equity offerings totaling more than $216 billion in proceeds, according to Refinitiv. Bob advised Madison Square Garden Entertainment on its spin-off and listing of its traditional live entertainment businesses. For Biohaven Pharmaceutical’s $11.6 billion acquisition by Pfizer, Bob helped pioneer an innovative structure in which Biohaven transferred its pipeline drugs to a new company and spun off the new company’s shares to its shareholders before Pfizer’s acquisition.
The Managing Partner of S&C’s Financial Services Group, Mitch has been recognized with his fourth consecutive MVP award for Banking, and his fifth overall. In the past year, he has helped a range of clients navigate the most recent banking crisis. Mitch helped Credit Suisse negotiate its $3.2 billion merger with UBS and the prior sale of its Securitized Products Group. Mitch also advises FTX Trading on financial services matters in its Chapter 11 proceedings, including its sale of derivatives trading platform LedgerX.
A Co-Head of S&C’s Antitrust Group, Renata is advising Amgen on the competition aspects of its $28.3 billion pending acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics, the largest healthcare merger announced in 2022, which received FTC clearance in September. Renata also played a pivotal role in enabling Canadian Pacific to complete its $31 billion acquisition of Kansas City Southern, including co-leading the antitrust team that helped persuade the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to approve the transaction.
A Co-Head of S&C’s Healthcare & Life Sciences Practice, Matt is advising Seagen in its pending $43 billion acquisition by Pfizer, the largest ever all-cash takeover in the biopharmaceutical industry. He advised Abiomed in its acquisition by Johnson & Johnson, negotiating the largest-ever all-cash deal in the medtech sector under a tight year-end timeline. Matt also provided valuable strategic advice in helping to eliminate Bayer’s liability for talc claims relating to foot powder products that Bayer acquired from Merck. This is Matt’s sixth Law360 MVP award.
A partner in the Firm’s Commodities, Futures and Derivatives and Capital Markets Groups, Colin advises clients on a broad range of securities and derivatives regulatory, enforcement, transactional and legislative matters. In FTX Trading’s bankruptcy, Colin is focusing on strategic regulatory interactions, the sales of FTX’s U.S.-regulated subsidiaries and possible reorganization of its offshore exchange. He represents FalconX in its ongoing operations as the first and only cryptocurrency-focused swap dealer registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
A Co-Head of S&C’s Intellectual Property and Technology Group, Nader advised OpenAI in its multiyear, multibillion-dollar partnership with Microsoft and Character.ai on its strategic partnership with Google Cloud for cloud infrastructure to train and build sophisticated AI models. He also led the S&C team that advised BlackBerry on the sale of approximately 32,000 of its non-core patents and patent applications to Malikie Innovations Limited for up to $900 million.
A Co-Head of S&C’s global Project Development & Finance practice, Inosi has counseled clients in matters across the energy sector, including Electrify America, the largest open ultra-fast electric vehicle charging network in North America, in raising $450 million of equity from Siemens. She also advised California Resources Corporation in forming a joint venture with Brookfield Renewable to create a carbon management partnership dedicated to carbon capture and sequestration and Sempra Infrastructure Partners in its $7 billion project financing of the Port Arthur LNG Phase 1 project.
Under Melissa’s leadership as S&C’s Global Head of M&A, the Firm led all law firm advisers in announced global and U.S. M&A deals in 2022 and in the first half of 2023. In the past year, Melissa advised on Seagen’s pending $43 billion acquisition by Pfizer, the largest ever all-cash takeover in the biopharmaceutical industry, and UnitedHealth Group’s $13.8 billion all-cash acquisition of Change Healthcare and $6 billion acquisition of LHC Group and subsequent merger with UHG subsidiary Optum.
Davis is a Co-Head of S&C’s Tax Group and leads the tax structuring on many of S&C’s biggest deals. Davis advised on the complex tax aspects of Biohaven’s innovative $11.6 billion acquisition by Pfizer and helped Amgen navigate tax issues stemming from its $28.3 billion pending acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics, including issues arising from the company’s 2014 “inversion,” which subjected it to the Irish Takeover Code.