America's Leading Lawyers for Business 2009: Banking & Finance
Chambers & Partners has compiled its independent and objective list of America's Leading Lawyers for Business based on comments gathered from thousands of interviews with clients and lawyers from Maine to Hawaii. This guide — which is designed to reflect market opinion — contains a view of the firms and attorneys who are considered leaders in their field.
In Chambers' 2009 review of national legal talent in the area of "Banking & Finance," our Firm and our lawyers are listed among the best in the country.
Chambers' comments:
Illinois Ranking: Tier 2
Kirkland has a leading practice in private equity and corporate transactions and is known for its robust borrower representation. The team's principal areas of expertise are restructurings, liquidity raising and high-end acquisitions. The team is led by "the calm, cool and collected" Linda Myers, who played a crucial role in representing Bain Capital in its $2.2 billion acquisition of Guitar Center, which involved securing approximately $1.3 billion in senior financing. Clients commend the firm for its "smart, experienced and technically proficient" handling of credit agreement reviews, restructuring and due diligence. Strong banking lawyer Andrew Kaufman focuses on structured financings and secured transactions and represented Calpine early in 2008, securing $7.3 billion in exit financing from a group of lenders. Corporate partners Christopher Butler and Maureen Sweeney focus on debt financing transactions, both secured and unsecured, and are equally respected for their expertise. Known for borrower representation, Louis Hernandez is highlighted by market commentators as someone to watch. His practice revolves around acquisition, mezzanine and corporate financings and one commentator added: "Few know as much about loan documentation."
Nationwide Ranking: Tier 4
This well-established firm has healthy finance practices, particularly in Chicago and New York, and continues to provide an impressive service to its predominantly private equity client base. The firm covers a broad range of finance matters including leveraged and restructuring work and has recently represented a number of large companies in their bankruptcy and financings. Clients laud this "extremely intelligent team, which is not afraid to dig in and take action." Partner Joshua Korff practices out of the New York office.
New York Ranking: Tier 4
This well-established group has made good use of a strong restructuring practice to advise on a wide range of refinancing and debt repurchase work for a largely borrower-side, midmarket clientele. It is viewed as "a high-quality firm that delivers a superb service" and is praised for the thoroughness of its work. The team represented homebuilder TOUSA and its subsidiaries in obtaining a $1.2 billion refinancing, and also acted for power company Calpine in securing $7.3 billion in exit financing from a group of lenders including Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley. The primary contact for banking work is Joshua Korff.
Reprinted with permission from Chambers USA, America's Leading Lawyers for Business 2009 — www.chambersandpartners.com.
