Law360 has named five Sullivan & Cromwell partners as “Rising Stars,” the third most of any firm. The award recognizes attorneys under 40 whose legal accomplishments transcend their age, and the partners were selected from more than 1,100 submissions.
Ana González Pérez for Banking
Ana is an emerging leader in S&C’s preeminent Financial Services Group, with a practice that spans transactional, regulatory and policy matters. In one of the most consequential bank M&A matters of 2024, Ana was co-lead adviser to Liberty Strategic Capital on its $450 million investment in New York Community Bancorp. Ana also advised Credit Suisse in its $3.2 billion merger with UBS and subsequently advised UBS on its post-merger integration of Credit Suisse, which represents the first-ever merger of two global systemically important banks and arguably most critical bank M&A deal since the 2008 financial crisis. Additionally, she helped SVB Financial Group, the former parent of Silicon Valley Bank, with regulatory and transactional matters in connection with its Chapter 11 proceedings arising from the third-largest bank failure in U.S. history. Read Ana’s profile.
Ben Beller for Bankruptcy
Ben is a partner in S&C’s Restructuring and Special Situations Group, representing debtors, creditors and other stakeholders in some of the Firm’s most complex, high-profile bankruptcy and restructuring matters. Ben is a part of the S&C team that advised FTX Trading through its historic bankruptcy filing, which culminated with FTX emerging from Chapter 11 in January under a $14+ billion Chapter 11 reorganization plan. He also led S&C’s representation of Deerfield as majority secured noteholder in the Chapter 11 proceedings of genetic testing company Invitae Corporation. Ben is also part of the S&C team advising Kidde-Fenwal in the first-ever Chapter 11 case aiming to resolve national mass tort liability related to “forever chemicals,” per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances. Read Ben’s profile.
Jake Croke for White Collar
Jake is Co-Head of S&C’s Corporate Governance Litigation Practice and handles matters across a broad range of practice areas. He played a key leadership role in one of the most high-profile and complex corporate investigations in recent years, representing FTX in white-collar matters arising from its bankruptcy. Additionally, in a long-running case that tested the limits of the DOJ’s use of FIRREA against financial institutions, Jake helped UBS AG pursue an aggressive strategy spanning DOJ’s investigation and subsequent litigation, ultimately resulting in a $1.435 billion settlement that was far less than settlements paid by every similarly-situated bank facing FIRREA claims. He was also a core part of the S&C team that represented Lordstown Motors for more than three years in multiple wide-ranging regulatory inquiries. Read Jake’s profile.
Courtland Morrice for Complex Financial Instruments
Courtland, a partner in S&C’s Finance Group, advises corporations, private investment firms and financial institutions on corporate and finance matters. Courtland has advised City Brewing Company in a series of liability management transactions to refinance certain debt and improve liquidity. He also helped Neiman Marcus Group, the parent company of Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman, on financing matters related to its $2.7 billion acquisition by Hudson Bay Company, the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue; and advised Softbank Group in the negotiation of an $8.5 billion margin loan and subsequent $5 billion upsize in connection with the IPO and Nasdaq listing of Arm Holdings plc. Read Courtland’s profile.
Pete Jones for Technology
Pete is a Palo-Alto based partner in S&C’s M&A Group and has served as co-lead counsel on some of the biggest and most-complex tech deals in recent years, including advising Musk, xAI and X in the merger of xAI and X in a $113 billion transaction and Ansys in its $35 billion sale to Synopsys. Prior to joining S&C, Pete represented Splunk in its $28 billion sale to Cisco. He also co-led the S&C team that recently advised Character.AI, x.AI on its recent equity and debt financing and Tesla as principal corporate outside counsel on a number of governance, securities and other matters. Read Pete’s profile.