Cleary Gottlieb Highlighted in the Financial Times’ Inaugural U.S. Innovative Lawyers Survey

Cleary Gottlieb was featured extensively in the inaugural US Innovative Lawyers Survey, a study published on December 1 by The Financial Times and RSG Consulting. The survey, which focuses on the state of innovation in the legal industry as evidenced in recent landmark matters, recognized Cleary Gottlieb as a leading firm in four of the six practice-specific categories that comprise this report: financial services, mergers & acquisitions, restructuring and responsible business.

Cleary Gottlieb was listed as a stand-out firm—the highest ranking possible—for innovation in the financial services category for its role in Citi’s capital raising and TARP repayment. The firm was also highly commended within this category for its involvement in the Cemex restructuring.

For mergers & acquisitions, the firm was highly commended for its representation of private equity investors in the acquisition of IndyMac. For restructuring, Cleary Gottlieb was commended for advising in the cross-border asset sales related to Nortel’s restructuring. The firm was also highly commended in the responsible business category for its partnership with Washington Irving High School.

In addition, Jeff Karpf was quoted in the FT’s overview article that accompanied the survey, describing how Cleary Gottlieb surmounted the challenges posed by Citi’s capital raising.

The US Innovative Lawyers Survey is a collaboration between the FT and RSG Consulting and the first such survey focusing on the US legal industry. In researching the survey, RSG Consulting assessed and scored examples of innovative legal work based on the following criteria: the originality of the matter, the rationale and strategic input provided by the lawyers involved and the impact that the work had on the clients.