| Latham & Watkins | Los Angeles | Barcelona, Brussels, Frankfurt, Hamburg, London, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, Munich, Paris, Rome | Qatar Investment Authority, E.ON Kernkraft, BC Partners. Advised BC Partners on $16.6 billion acquisition of Intelsat. | 1,624m | 35 | 1,629 | 35 | 2 | 5 | Overwhelmingly, the legal market's recommended US firm in Europe. Innovation permeates the DNA of this firm from management approach to culture. Continues to make top lateral hires, and established their Italian operation in November 2007. | 10 | 5 | 22 |
|---|
| Weil, Gotshal & Manges | New York | Budapest, Frankfurt, London, Munich, Paris, Prague, Warsaw | Terra Firma Capital Partners, Suez, Saban Capital Group. Advised private equity firms including JP Morgan Partners in the merger of Spanish companies Ono and Auna. | 1,050m | 16 | 300 | 33 | 2 | 5 | The firm continues to maintain and expand its business in Europe through a mixture of mergers and astute lateral hires. Significantly grown France and Germany over the past three years. Also has a dynamic Central European practice. | 6 | 4 | 17 |
|---|
| Kirkland & Ellis | Chicago | London, Munich | CCMP, CVC, Candover. Negotiated Bain Capital acquisition of Bath & Kitchen division of American Standard. | 1,145m | 37 | 102 | 104 | 5 | 5 | A firm that dares to be niche in its chosen practice areas of private equity, international arbitration and restructuring. They have recruited top partners from "magic circle" firms and built an impressive private equity business in Europe. Following the downturn in activity, their restructuring practice is keeping people busy. | 4 | 2 | 16 |
|---|
| Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe | San Francisco | London, Milan, Moscow, Paris, Rome (merger with Germany) | Vivendi, Telenor, Deutsche Bank. Defended Telenor against hostile takeover by Alfa Group of interests in VimpelCom and Kyivstar, valued at $15 billion. | 666m | 38 | 253 | 83 | 4 | 3 | Currently negotiating a merger in Germany, the firm has completed an impressive number of European mergers since 2004. Revenues in each city have grown over 50 per cent. The firm is unashamedly looking to expand in Europe and were commended for always trying to do things differently. | 6 | 2 | 15 |
|---|
| Paul Hastings, Janofsky & Walker | Los Angeles | Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Paris, Milan | GE, UBS, Enel. Represented Addax Petroleum in its $1.6 billion syndicated loan facility. | 814m | 34 | 94 | 49 | 2 | 4 | The firm increased its London revenues by 84 per cent last year, underlining its commitment to grow fourfold over the next few years. They have strengthened Paris through lateral hires and concluded a smart merger in Germany with Smeets Haas Wolff, a firm comprised of lawyers from top German firms. | 7 | 2 | 15 |
|---|
| Reed Smith | Pittsburgh | Birmingham, Greece, London, Munich, Paris | ECA, Trafigura, UniCredit Grup.
Advising UniCredit on its 20% stake in Martur, a Turkish automotive products firm. | 644m | 28 | 435 | 57 | 3 | 4 | The firm is beginning to tap into the potential behind its merger with UK law firm Richards Butler in 2007. One of the fastest growing law firms, they run themselves on global practice lines where partners are incentivised to cross-sell. | 5 | 2 | 14 |
|---|
| Debevoise & Plimpton | New York | Frankfurt, London, Moscow, Paris | Legrand, Norilsk Nickel, Benfield. Work for Siemens AG's Audit Committee in a world-wide investigation into questionable payments to government officials. | 575m | 20 | 163 | 39 | 2 | 3 | Hired former Attorney-General Lord Goldsmith to further its growth in Europe. The firm is keen to maintain its culture so eschews rapid expansion. However, work for clients such as Siemens reflects its high level European operation. Key practice areas are private equity, dispute resolution and insurance transactions. | 5 | 2 | 12 |
|---|
| Dewey & LeBoeuf | New York | Almaty, Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Milan, Moscow, Paris, Rome, Warsaw | Fortum Power & Heat Oy, Lancashire Holdings Ltd, JSC VTB Bank. Advising UniCredit on the sale of Poland's 3rd largest bank to GE Money. | 922m** | 25** | 633 | 53*** | 3 | 2 | This sizeable merger between two US law firms has inevitably increased the firm's headcount in Europe. The merged firm is less than a year old and runs its practices on a global basis. | 5 | 2 | 12 |
|---|
| Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher | Los Angeles | Brussels, London, Moscow, Paris | Lehman Bros, Investcorp, Hagemeyer N.V.
Advising Gores Group in its joint venture with Siemens AG. | 809m | 17 | 106 | 33 | 2 | 2 | As an example of the investment in their European practice, the firm recruited Lord Falconer, the UK's former Lord Chancellor, to strengthen its dispute resolution practice. The firm continues to expand through lateral hires rather than merger. | 4 | 1 | 9 |
|---|
| Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton | New York | Brussels, Cologne, Frankfurt, London, Milan, Moscow, Paris, Rome | Dubai World,
JC Flowers,
First Reserve. Represented Mittal Steel in its successful €26.6 bn bid for Arcelor. | 813m | 17 | 360 | 14 | 1 | 1 | With a long history in Europe, the firm continues to garner recommendations for their business strategy here. Although the firm's steady growth and management approach is not strictly innovative, it's ability to run genuinely local businesses in Europe differentiates them from their peers. | 3 | 2 | 7 |
|---|
| Download this view as a PDF Output this view to Excel |
SPECIAL REPORTS 