Cleary Gottlieb Earns Accolades in The Legal 500 U.S. 2014 Guide

Citing Cleary Gottlieb’s breadth of talent and experience, The Legal 500 U.S. 2014 guide has recommended 89 firm lawyers and 26 practice areas as among the profession’s best in the United States.

Notably, The Legal 500 U.S. recognized the firm for the first time in Intellectual Property—Patent Licensing and Transactional.

The following Cleary Gottlieb practices were recommended based on The Legal 500’s survey of in-house counsel and lawyers across the U.S.

Finance

Bank Lending (Including Other Sources of Financing): “Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP has established a strong reputation for complex cross-border financings and refinancings, particularly for its corporate and private equity client base.” 

Capital Markets: Debt Offerings - Advice to Issuers and Capital Markets: Debt Offerings - Advice to Managers: “Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP drew on its international network and reputation as a leading capital markets practice to act on the largest-ever debt offering by an emerging market company.” 

Capital Markets: Equity Offerings - Advice to Issuers and Capital Markets: Equity Offerings - Advice to Managers: “Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP’s work on precedent-setting financings continues apace from its flagship New York office.” 

Capital Markets: Global Offerings - Advice to Corporate and Finance - Capital Markets: Global Offerings - Advice to Financial Institutions: “Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP’s ‘top-notch’ team comes highly recommended as market leader. The firm has acted for both issuers and underwriters in an impressive range of deals throughout Asia, Europe and Latin America.” 

Capital Markets: High-Yield Debt Offerings - Advice to Issuers and Finance - Capital Markets: High-Yield Debt Offerings - Advice to Managers: “A leading capital markets firm in the US and internationally, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton’s versatile lawyers in New York have expertise spanning the whole range of high-yield products, advising both issuers and underwriters.” 

Corporate Restructuring: “Lawyers at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton are commended for the ‘strong depth and application of their knowledge, which exceeds expectations’ and for their ability to ‘communicate well with both clients and advisers to provide outstanding service.’”

Financial Services - Litigation: “‘A leader for financial services regulatory work’, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP’s longstanding knowledge of the most pressing concerns facing the industry, and provides an ‘excellent service’ to many leading domestic and global institutions engaged in enforcement actions and private litigation. …the team has substantial credibility before the regulators and combines this with trial-ready strength to provide a ‘seamless service.’” 

Financial Services – Regulatory: “The firm’s ‘extraordinarily good’ eight-partner practice ‘has the breadth to handle the most complex issues’, and acts for an impressive roster of clients… Taking a ‘very collaborative approach’, the team often works in close cooperation with the firm’s international offices and with lawyers in complementary practice areas such as M&A, securities, tax and litigation.” 

Project Finance: Advice to Lender and Project Finance: Advice to Sponsors: The firm “continues to feature in major infrastructure projects across the US and Latin America, with specific expertise in projects relating to airports, ports, investment, electricity, mining and natural gas and is particularly strong on the sponsor side.” 

Structured Finance: “A group ‘at the top of its field’, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP provides a ‘very high level of service’ when it comes to transactions involving equity, credit and commodity linked products, mortgages, high-yield bonds, secured and unsecured bank loans and other types of assets. It is particularly known for its CLO as well as ‘excellent derivatives law practice’, and provides regulatory advice in conjunction with its transactional work. The group acts for the full spectrum of market participants including issuers, underwriters, asset managers and industry associations.” 

Investment Fund Formation and Management

Private Equity Funds: The firm’s “investment management practice is developing into a highly coveted practice among GP clients, thanks in no small part to its ability to ‘stay on top of the latest developments in the area and always give a practical view of legal issues.’”

Litigation

International Arbitration: “Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP performs ‘exceptional work’ across its broad geographic platform, adopting a multi-disciplinary approach to international arbitration and fielding ‘highly specialized’ practitioners spread across various practice groups and offices. Its expertise in the US is heavily concentrated in New York and Washington DC. The group continues to receive a steady stream of instructions on treaty arbitration disputes, and clients rate its abilities in that field as ‘excellent, almost second to none.’” 

Securities: Shareholder Litigation: “Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP’s litigation and corporate practice groups are of excellent quality.”

White-Collar Criminal Defense: “Providing an ‘outstanding service’, particularly in regulatory matters, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP remains a popular choice for major financial institutions, which it continues to represent in investigations connected to the sub-prime mortgage crisis as well as OFAC sanctions and money laundering.”

Mergers, Acquisitions and Buyouts

Antitrust: “Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP is a ‘top-notch’ firm, with ‘one of the best’ antitrust practices in the country, ‘especially in foreign deals’ and in the hi-tech industry. It ‘is able to take complex legal issues and apply them to complex factual scenarios in an understandable and comprehensive way’, enabling clients ‘to make deliberate and informed decisions. ’” 

M&A: Mega-Deals ($5bn+): “Clients consistently highlight the ‘collegiality’ that is fostered within the firm ... partners are ‘very supportive of each other’ and ‘attentive to the details of the transaction.’ Overall, the team is praised for its ‘intelligence.’” 

Private Equity Buyouts: Cleary Gottlieb “has a stand-out reputation for cross-border and multi-jurisdictional deals, and clients consistently highlight the collaborative ethos that exists within the firm.” 

Real Estate and Construction

Real Estate: Cleary Gottlieb “is ‘technically very good’, demonstrates ‘a strong level of commitment to the client’ and is ‘a go-to firm for complex and high-profile matters.’ Rendering advice to clients across the US and internationally, the team is regarded for its reputation in advising on high-profile acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures, financings and restructurings.” 

Tax

Domestic Tax: East Coast: Cleary Gottlieb’s “multi-disciplinary tax practice maintains its market-leading position, and enjoyed another busy year. The ‘excellent’ team advises clients across the spectrum of tax matters with distinct strength in corporate and capital markets related transactional work.” 

Financial Products: Cleary Gottlieb’s “expertise encompasses credit default swaps, convertible bonds and related issuer derivative transactions, mandatory convertible securities, issuer accelerated share repurchase transactions, structured notes, CLOs, hybrid debt securities, securities loans and repos, and total return equity and loan swaps.” 

International: “Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP is a ‘fantastic’ firm at the ‘top of its game.’ The ‘very strong’ team has considerable international experience and handles a range of cross-border matters, both contentious and non-contentious; clients include private equity firms, financial institutions, industry associations and large multinational companies. The team includes a number of senior lawyers who have held prestigious government and public sector jobs, adding considerable depth to the team’s collective experience.”