Cleary Gottlieb Achieves Outstanding Results in Chambers Global 2013: Wins Competition/Antitrust Firm of the Year Award

March 15, 2013

Cleary Gottlieb and its lawyers continue to be recognized as leaders in legal services in the Chambers Global legal directory. Evidencing the strength of the firm’s overall practice and extent of its geographic reach, the 2013 edition, released March 14, highlights 130 Cleary Gottlieb lawyers and 99 practices for work in Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Russia, South Korea, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as regionally throughout Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and globally.

In addition, Chambers Global named Cleary Gottlieb Competition/Antitrust Law Firm of the Year as part of its Chambers Global Online Awards. Winners were selected by the Chambers editors in consultation with the research team, taking into account overall performance and involvement in the highest profile and most cutting-edge deals and cases around the world.

As the publication has evolved, Chambers has redefined its geographic and practice area categories, subdividing some into narrower niches while truncating others. Recognizing the firm’s commitment to new markets, the firm was profiled for the first time in the following new or reorganized categories: China: Corporate/M&A: The Elite (International Firms); France: Dispute Resolution (Foreign Experts); Iraq: General Business Law (Experts Based Abroad); Malaysia: Corporate & Finance (Experts Based Abroad); Philippines: Corporate & Finance (Experts Based Abroad); Russia: Dispute Resolution (Experts Based Abroad); and USA: International Arbitration.

The following Cleary Gottlieb practices are recognized for being among the best in the world, based on Chambers’ interviews of the firm’s clients and competitors:

Global

Arbitration (International): “This US firm has notable international strength in arbitration, with a particularly strong practice in Paris and a high level of expertise in disputes involving oil and gas issues, mining concessions, sovereign debt and financial services.”
Banking & Finance: “This US heavyweight has a wide spread of offices....‘They are excellent at complicated structures.’”
Capital Markets: Debt, Capital Markets: Equity and Capital Markets: Structured Finance & Derivatives: “This US-heavyweight has stellar offerings in debt, equity and structured finance across an impressive range of jurisdictions with its most notable strength being in the USA, London and Latin America. ‘This is a top-notch firm. They know capital markets and are always willing to help.’”
Competition/Antitrust: “This top firm is uniquely placed to provide expert advice on competition and antitrust law on both sides of the Atlantic. Alongside unmatched Washington, DC and Brussels teams, it fields highly rated practices in Germany, Italy and France, and an increasing profile in London. ‘They have incredible bench strength and work incredibly well as a team.’ ‘A fantastic firm on a global scale.’ ‘They are the best of all the players I use globally.’”
Corporate/M&A: “With unparalleled strength in Latin America, this firm is also renowned for its prominent teams in New York, Europe and Asia. It has also consolidated its global presence through the opening of new offices in Seoul and Abu Dhabi. The practice has a broad and deep bench of corporate specialists and earns particular praise for its expertise on mandates in the technology and other IP-intensive sectors.”
Dispute Resolution: “This highly regarded firm has strong capabilities in the USA, and its presence is also strongly felt in Europe. Its offices in New York, Paris and Rome are particularly renowned, and it also has a respected global arbitration practice.”
Investment Funds: Private Equity: Fund Formation: “Maintaining a quality investment funds practice, this US-based group is continually praised for its excellent work and dedicated focus. ‘An excellent team. They have fantastic service and great clients.’”
Private Equity: “This firm’s private equity presence spans the USA, Europe and Asia, where teams of experienced lawyers serve the needs of an impressive client base. ‘The service was exceptional. The team worked hard and the quality of advice was superior.’”
Projects & Energy and Projects & Energy: Mining & Minerals: “Clearly Gottlieb enjoys a high profile in the USA, where it excels in the mining and minerals sector and is well regarded for its expertise in PPP transactions. It maintains a strong focus on Latin America, and opened a second office in Brazil in late 2011 to support its work in this area.”
Public International Law: “This firm’s PIL group is regularly retained by sovereigns, international organisations, state-owned entities and multinational companies worldwide. It is well equipped to handle both investment treaty arbitrations and state-to-state cases, and is best known for its involvement in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States.”
Restructuring/Insolvency: “This team has an increasingly prominent reputation in the USA, and is well regarded for its international orientation. It offers restructuring and insolvency advice from 14 offices worldwide, and is developing a notable profile for its work on restructurings in Latin America. ‘They have always had a great reputation on cross-border matters.’”
Tax: “Sources have high praise for this firm’s work on cross-border tax mandates. It has an exceptional reputation for its US offering, while an impressive European practice comprises teams in Frankfurt, London and Rome. ‘Strong in the USA and globally.’”

Africa-wide

Corporate/Commercial: “This firm continues to be a prominent presence on the continent, and can draw on extensive and varied experience in Africa work. The group represents governments and public and private companies across the full spectrum of corporate and commercial issues. ‘For Africa, they’re top - they are truly multicultural and multilingual.’”
Projects & Energy and Projects & Energy: Mining & Minerals: “This firm is a highly active participant in the African energy market, and advises sponsors, lenders and government bodies on major projects. Its mandates in francophone countries are largely led from the Paris office, while specialists based in London and Abu Dhabi have played a major role in anglophone work. ‘They have a good appreciation of our commercial objective. Thorough, rigorous, insightful, yet also pragmatic, and they have a lot of experience in this particular environment.’”

Asia-Pacific Region

Capital Markets: Debt and Capital Markets: Equity: “This impressive US group is a strong competitor in the debt and equity markets in the region, primarily known for its high-quality work in South Korea together with notable activity in China and India. ‘This firm is proactive and is always trying to protect client’s interests while at the same time being reasonable to other professional parties.’”
Corporate/M&A and Corporate/M&A: Private Equity: “This American firm garners tremendous respect from sources for its transactional abilities, and its presence in Asia has recently been strengthened with the opening of a new office in Seoul. Although it has well-regarded expertise in India and Korea, it is strongest in China. ‘We have tremendous respect for the team; we think they are top-notch.’”

Europe-wide

Arbitration (International): “This high-quality US firm remains a solid fixture in the European international arbitration market, with a prestigious arbitration team operating mainly out of the Paris office.”
Capital Markets: Debt and Capital Markets: Equity: “This highly respected firm has an outstanding equity capital markets practice, and also provides solid advice on debt-related mandates. London is at the centre of the firm’s European network, with further strong teams in Russia, Germany, France and Italy. ‘The firm is very clear in terms of what issues are important and what aren’t.’”
Competition/European Law: “One of the best competition practices in Brussels, this firm also has top teams in Germany, Italy and France…. ‘What strikes me most is the quality of the firm throughout, whether it’s France, Belgium or Germany. It’s polished without being arrogant, unlike other firms which are often the other way around.’”
Corporate/M&A: “This formidable US firm has prominent offices in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Russia and Belgium, and is widely respected for its capability in heavyweight deals. The team acts across a range of sectors but attracts particular plaudits for its expertise in the energy sector. ‘I like the quality of work and the firm’s global reach.’”
International Trade/WTO: “This firm is valued by multinational clients for its in-depth knowledge of EU regulation.”
Tax: “This firm moves up the rankings this year in recognition of its work on several complex multi-jurisdictional mandates. It is extremely strong in France, and also fields notable teams in Germany, the UK, Italy and Belgium. ‘One of the strongest American firms in Europe….’ ‘Its European practice has a strong historical reputation, particularly in Paris.’”
Technology & Communications: “This firm receives particularly high praise for its ability to advise major clients on pan-European transactions and sector-specific issues. It is especially strong in Brussels and brings considerable competition and regulatory expertise to large-scale cross-border deals.”

Latin America-wide

Arbitration (International): “Based in New York, this arbitration group is now supported by partners in the firm’s recently opened office in São Paulo. Attorneys in the group are regularly engaged as counsel in both commercial and investor-state arbitrations.”
Banking & Finance (Experts Based Abroad): “Based in New York, this arbitration group is now supported by partners in the firm’s recently opened office in São Paulo. Attorneys in the group are regularly engaged as counsel in both commercial and investor-state arbitrations. ‘The impressive team runs like clockwork and knows how to get things done. The firm’s strengths are a deep bench and consistently high-quality client service.’”
Capital Markets (Experts Based Abroad): This firm as a whole is renowned for its capital markets practice and solid Latin American presence, and the two areas overlap to make it a leader in the market. The group is strong in all areas of capital markets and coordinates its work out of New York, Buenos Aires and the newly opened São Paulo office. ‘A group of hard-working, talented people with amazing capital markets skills.’”
Corporate/M&A (Experts Based Abroad): “This firm has long set the standard for corporate legal services in Latin America, and intensified its presence in the region with the opening of an office in São Paulo in mid-2011. The firm continues to play a leading role in significant inbound and outbound M&A transactions, and clients are unanimous in their praise for the group’s efficiency, experience and dedication. ‘We couldn’t ask more of the team: they worked round the clock, weeks on end, always with the best attitude and delivering the highest quality.’ ‘The team is very easy to work with and clearly understands the various Latin American markets.’”
Projects (Experts Based Abroad): “This firm opened an office in São Paulo in 2011 but its New York office continues to coordinate much of the firm’s work in the projects space. Cleary Gottlieb has an outstanding reputation for transactional work and has established strong relationships with many of the continent’s dominant financial institutions.”

Middle East

Capital Markets: “This firm announced the opening of its Abu Dhabi office in mid-2012, finally keeping a permanent base in a region it has been so active in. The firm serves clients based in or active in the GCC region, drawing on resources in Milan, London, New York and Paris alongside the recently established UAE office. It is particularly noted for its strength in equity capital markets.”
Corporate/Commercial: “This practice has accrued several years of experience in Middle Eastern corporate and commercial issues, and can provide clients with locally based services following the opening of its Abu Dhabi office in September 2012.”

Belgium

Brazil