Cleary Gottlieb Earns High Recognition in 2019 Legal 500 UK

Cleary Gottlieb continues to achieve recognition as a premier law firm in the 2019 edition of The Legal 500 UK.

This year, the firm earned 14 practice rankings, and eight Cleary lawyers were named “Leading Lawyers” in their respective practice areas: partners Sam Bagot, Maurits Dolmans, David Gottlieb, Simon Jay, Jonathan Kelly, Nicholas Levy, Michael McDonald, and Sebastian Sperber.

The Legal 500 UK also recognized two Cleary lawyers – partner Polina Lyadnova and counsel Paul Gilbert – as “Next Generation Lawyers”.

Cleary received commendations as a recommended firm in the following practice areas:

• Corporate and commercial: Corporate tax: “‘Outstanding from a technical perspective’, [Cleary’s] London tax team ’punches above its weight’ in relation to private equity funds and multinationals engaged in M&A.” 
• Corporate and commercial: Equity capital markets: “‘Exceptional on all counts’, ‘[Cleary’s] strong, competent and dedicated’ practice is recommended for ’high-end, complex equity transactions with a US nexus’, and is ’noted for its technical know-how’.”
• Corporate and commercial: EU and competition: “‘Highly expert’, ‘responsive’, and ‘rigorous’… [Cleary’s] practice is renowned for its global merger control work, playing a prominent role in market-leading transactions including the Alstom Siemens merger and The Walt Disney Company’s proposed acquisition of 21st Century Fox.”
• Corporate and commercial: M&A: upper mid-market and premium deals, £250m+:“[Cleary’s] ‘extremely diligent, commercial and highly skilled’ department is praised for its strength in depth and ‘incredible mix of talent and expertise.’”
• Corporate and commercial: Private equity: transactions – large-cap deal capability:“[Cleary] is a strong choice for complex multi-jurisdictional transactions… The scope of the team’s experience spans the gamut of private equity transactions.”
• Dispute resolution: Banking litigation: investment and retail: “A significant strength of [Cleary’s] practice is its ability to handle complex cross-border disputes; and matters involving financial and banking regulatory investigations and enforcement continue to feature heavily in the firm’s London practice.”
• Dispute resolution: Commercial litigation: “The practice, which ’provides high levels of service, professionalism and preparation’, regularly assists governments, corporations, financial institutions and individuals in cases that frequently involve complex legal issues and cross-border co-ordination of litigation involving securities, derivatives, M&A and antitrust issues along with bankruptcy, white-collar crime and general commercial matters.”
• Dispute resolution: Competition litigation:“[Cleary] stands out for its representation of major defendants and claimants in follow-on and standalone damages claims, appeals against competition authority decisions, government investigations and criminal litigation. The firm often coordinates complex European competition litigation matters from the London office, which has significant experience in the space.”
• Dispute resolution: International arbitration:“[Cleary] ’performs a perfect service in every possible way’.” 
• Finance: Acquisition finance: “Able to provide a seamless service on both bank and bond financings, [Cleary] regularly handles acquisition finance matters for corporate and private equity clients as a function of the firm’s five-partner banking offering.”
• Finance: Bank lending: investment grade debt and syndicated loans: “[Cleary] provides ’timely and responsive advice’ and a comprehensive financing capability which includes expertise across the capital structure (including on UK and US-law governed debt) to major multinational corporates of the firm.”
• Finance: Debt Capital Markets: “[Cleary] has a team of four partners and two counsel who focus predominantly on debt deals as part of their broader capital markets practices. The firm is a key player in the emerging markets debt space, in which it handles high-end and innovative transactions.”
• Finance: Emerging markets: “[Cleary] has a long track record of advising on emerging markets transactions from London for sovereign wealth funds, state-owned enterprises and high-net-worth individuals.”
• Finance: High yield: “[Cleary] is ’at the upper end of the market in terms of quality of service and it has the ability to efficiently drive bankers while maintaining tight reporting to their client, as well as in-depth product experience and extensive knowledge of covenants’.”

View Cleary’s complete results on Legal 500’s website.