| Standout | Weil, Gotshal & Manges | 26 | 9 | 9 | 8 | Represented Applied Materials on its $29bn all-stock combination with Tokyo Electron. Commended: Keith Flaum. |
| Standout | Covington & Burling | 25 | 8 | 9 | 8 | Helped World Wrestling Entertainment launch WWE Network, the first multi-platform, direct-to-consumer television service. |
| Standout | Dechert | 25 | 8 | 9 | 8 | Lead counsel to the Certares-led consortium of investors in its $900m purchase of a 50 per cent stake in American Express’s Global Business Travel division. Commended: Geraldine Sinatra. |
| Standout | Kirkland & Ellis | 25 | 9 | 9 | 7 | Used contingent value rights (CVRs) to replicate indemnification for the first time, helping to protect Community Health Systems against risk in its acquisition of Health Management Associates. Commended: Stephen Fraidin. |
| Standout | Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom | 25 | 8 | 9 | 8 | Used a buyer’s exit clause to help retailer Joseph A Bank Clothiers deliver an extra $600m to shareholders. Commended: Paul Schnell and Jeremy London. |
| Standout | Sullivan & Cromwell | 25 | 8 | 9 | 8 | Counsel to Valeant Pharmaceuticals’ joint bid with Pershing Square for Allergan. Commended: Alison Ressler. |
| Standout | White & Case | 25 | 8 | 9 | 8 | Helped Occidental Petroleum challenge federal laws in a previously untested refiling that secured its right to sell surplus energy to the California grid. Commended: Daniel Hagan. |
| Highly Commended | Cravath, Swaine & Moore | 24 | 8 | 8 | 8 | Conducted an extensive strategic review for Life Technologies, culminating in the company’s sale to Thermo Fisher Scientific for $13.6bn. Commended: Richard Hall. |
| Highly Commended | Latham & Watkins | 24 | 8 | 8 | 8 | Breathed new life into the “Burger King” dual-track structure by applying it to antitrust risk associated with client Georgia-Pacific's bid for Buckeye Technologies. |
| Highly Commended | Paul Hastings | 24 | 8 | 8 | 8 | Helped launch FIBRA Hipotecaria, a pioneering mortgage real estate investment trust (Reit) that creates an international secondary market for Mexican mortgages. Commended: Michael Fitzgerald. |
| Highly Commended | Dechert | 23 | 8 | 8 | 7 | Successfully overturned the Federal Trade Commission's prior ruling to facilitate OfficeMax’s $2.5bn merger with Office Depot. Commended: Paul Denis. |
| Highly Commended | Kirkland & Ellis | 23 | 8 | 8 | 7 | Negotiated a superior proposal clause to recoup $48m following the termination of Eddie Bauer’s proposed sale to Joseph A Bank Clothiers. |
| Highly Commended | Latham & Watkins | 23 | 8 | 9 | 6 | Introduced an indemnity offset mechanism to protect Dutch group Royal DSM during the spin-off of its pharmaceuticals arm into a joint venture majority-owned by private equity firm JLL Partners. |
| Commended | Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton | 22 | 7 | 8 | 7 | Represented Japanese brewer and distiller Suntory Holdings on its $16bn acquisition of US premium-brand spirits producer Beam. Commended: Paul Shim. |
| Commended | Latham & Watkins | 22 | 8 | 8 | 6 | Helped Authentic Brands Group complete the high-profile acquisition of intellectual property rights associated with Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali. |
| Commended | Proskauer Rose | 22 | 7 | 8 | 7 | Represented American Realty Capital Properties (ARCP) in its acquisition of Cole Real Estate Investments (CREI), helping to make ARCP the largest US net-lease Reit. |
| Commended | Sullivan & Cromwell | 22 | 7 | 8 | 7 | Negotiated an unusual prepaid reverse break fee to protect utility company Pepco's interests from regulatory delay during its auction sale. |
| Commended | Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer | 21 | 7 | 7 | 7 | Worked through multi-jurisdictional complications arising from Nasdaq-listed engineering services group Foster Wheeler’s sale to UK rival Amec. |
| Commended | Morrison & Foerster | 21 | 7 | 8 | 6 | Guided Edison Pharmaceuticals through its strategic partnership with Japan-based Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma. |
| Commended | Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe | 21 | 7 | 7 | 7 | Helped Hackman Capital-sponsored entities acquire and value a portfolio of 140 vacant properties from the bankrupt Hostess Brands (“Old HB”). |
| Commended | Paul Hastings | 21 | 6 | 8 | 7 | Took advantage of new Nasdaq private placement rules to boost renewable energy and biofuels company Gevo’s capital-raising ability. |
| Commended | Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison | 21 | 7 | 7 | 7 | Advised Time Warner Cable on its all-stock merger with Comcast to create a new operator with an enterprise value of $68bn. Commended: Bob Schumer. |
| Commended | Seyfarth Shaw | 21 | 7 | 8 | 6 | Introduced Disclosure Dragon, an online document assembly tool for preparing legal and financial disclosure documents aimed specifically at the crowdfunding industry. |
| Commended | Simpson Thacher & Bartlett | 21 | 7 | 7 | 7 | Advised Vodafone on the sale of its US business to Verizon in the largest mergers and acquisition deal of the century. |
| Commended | Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom | 21 | 7 | 7 | 7 | Addressed US Securities and Exchanges Commission conflicts with Dutch law to help Joh A Benckiser buy Sara Lee spin-off company DE Master Blenders 1753 in a deal that forms the world’s largest pure-play coffee company. |
| Commended | Paul Hastings | 20 | 6 | 7 | 7 | Represented Avalon in its $495m collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), a pioneering tie-up between a venture capital fund and a leading pharmaceuticals company. |
| Commended | Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison | 20 | 7 | 7 | 6 | Helped the newly installed board of Health Management Associates assess strategic alternatives in the run-up to its sale to Community Health Systems. |
| Commended | Ropes & Gray | 20 | 6 | 7 | 7 | Counsel to the New York Integrated Network on the formation of the first accountable care organisation (ACO) in the US primarily serving individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. |
| Commended | Simpson Thacher & Bartlett | 20 | 6 | 7 | 7 | Advised Blackstone in the formation of Invitation Homes, a national platform to rent and manage distressed single-family homes. |
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