Cleary Gottlieb Elects 16 New Partners and Counsel

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP announced today that it has elected eight partners and eight counsel, effective January 1, 2017.

The elections will bring the firm’s total worldwide partners to 195 and counsel to 57.

“I am proud to introduce our new global partners and counsel,” said Mark Leddy, Cleary Gottlieb’s Managing Partner.  “This exceptional group of individuals embodies Cleary Gottlieb’s commitment to internationalism and reflects the high caliber of talent we have developed globally and across practice areas.  Our new partners and counsel, collectively, speak Cantonese, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Korean, Mandarin, and Spanish.  I congratulate these lawyers on their dedication to legal excellence, and to delivering the highest-quality service to our clients around the world.”

The new partners and counsel are resident in the firm’s Brussels, Hong Kong, London, New York, Rome, and Washington offices.  Their broad spectrum of practice areas includes antitrust, banking and financial institutions, capital markets, intellectual property, leveraged and acquisition finance, litigation, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, private funds, real estate, and restructuring.

The new partners and counsel are:

Nowell Bamberger, partner, focuses on cross-border dispute resolution, including litigation before U.S. and foreign courts and international investigations.  He is resident in the Washington office.  His assignments have included representation of financial institutions, investment professionals, and multinational firms in a wide range of disputes and regulatory investigations arising under U.S., foreign, and international law.  He has represented clients in litigation related to the collapse of the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme, including The Bank of New York Mellon in class action litigation and bankruptcy matters in federal and state court and additional clients in connection with the ongoing liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC.  He has also represented HSBC in various U.S. and foreign investigations relating to interest rate benchmarks and the foreign exchange markets.  Other notable representations include HSBC in putative class actions alleging the manipulation of the market for U.S. Treasury securities and benchmark interest rates in Singapore and Australia, and Banc of America Securities in litigation relating to residential mortgage-backed securities.

Kenneth Blazejewski, counsel, focuses on private investment fund formation and secondary transactions, including fund restructurings and direct secondaries, as well as private investment fund joint ventures.  He is resident in the New York office.  Ken has advised Coller Capital, KKR, and TPG, as well as other alternative asset managers and investors.  He represented Coller Capital in the restructuring of Irving Place Capital III and its investment in American Capital Equity III.  Ken represented KKR in the formation of KKR Next Generation Technology Growth Fund, which focuses on making growth equity investments in the technology, media, and telecommunications sector.  He has also represented a major investment bank in the auction and sale of a broad portfolio of private fund interests, and has advised several private investment fund managers on their internal governance and economic arrangements, including in the context of joint ventures.

Daniel Culley, partner, focuses on all aspects of U.S. antitrust law.  He is resident in the Washington office.  Dan represented Lafarge in its €40 billion merger of equals with Holcim, which created the world’s largest construction materials company; Italcementi and Italmobliare in their $4.1 billion acquisition by Heidelberg Cement; The Coca-Cola Company in its $2.15 billion acquisition of a 16.7 percent equity stake in Monster Beverage Corporation; and Samsonite in its $1.8 billion acquisition of Tumi.  He recently advised Open Text in its acquisition of Dell EMC’s Enterprise Content Division; Higher One in its proposed acquisition by an affiliate of Blackboard Inc.; Warburg Pincus and its portfolio company, Electronic Funds Source, in the sale of EFS to WEX Inc.; and Sterigenics in the acquisition of its largest supplier, Nordion.  Dan also represented DHL Global Forwarding in antitrust class action litigation involving the freight forwarding industry; and Sabre in monopolization litigation brought by American Airlines.

Gianluca Faella, counsel, focuses on EU and Italian competition law, as well as regulation, state aid, intellectual property, contract law, and litigation.  He is resident in the Rome office.  He is an adjunct professor of Competition and High-Tech Markets at LUISS Guido Carli University (Rome) and an adjunct professor of Competition Law and Policy at University of Siena.  He assisted Telecom Italia before the Italian Communications Authority in the filing and negotiation of a commitment proposal aimed at implementing an operational separation of the fixed access network.  He represented Poste Italiane before the Regional Administrative Tribunal of Lazio and the Council of State in the annulment of an IAA decision to fine Poste for alleged abuse of a dominant market position; and served as counsel to Unipol Gruppo Finanziario before the IAA in obtaining the conditional clearance of the acquisition of Premafin and Fondiaria Sai.  Gianluca also served as counsel to Eni in winning an appeal before the Italian supreme administrative court regarding an alleged exclusionary abuse in the management of a gas pipeline connecting Tunisia to Italy.

David Herrington, partner, works on a wide range of litigation, advisory, and regulatory matters, with a focus on intellectual property disputes.  He is resident in the New York office.  David has handled suits involving claims of patent infringement, trade secret misappropriation, trademark infringement, and breach of patent and know-how licenses; and he has advised on major IP transactions, including the sale of a multibillion-dollar patent portfolio and due diligence assessments of IP litigation exposure and structuring and licenses of IP assets.  His experience in other areas includes SEC and FINRA enforcement actions, internal investigations, and commercial litigation involving derivatives, debt instruments, and many other subjects.  David has recently represented United Test and Assembly Center Ltd. (UTAC) in several patent licensing disputes; Nortel in a trade secret misappropriation case; People’s United Bank in trademark infringement litigation; and Samsung in connection with the sale of its printer business to Hewlett Packard.  David also was a leader of the Cleary Gottlieb team that succeeded in overturning the death sentence and conviction of former Tennessee death row inmate Ndume Olatushani.

Jim Ho, partner, focuses on finance, restructuring, and capital markets work.  He is resident in the London office.  Jim has experience advising on a broad range of debt and equity capital markets products, bank lending, acquisition finance, debt restructurings and insolvency, financial regulations, and sovereign debt management.  Jim is advising a large CIS metals and mining company on its $5.7 billion debt financings; and he advised UC RUSAL in its $5.15 billion restructuring and the Truvo Group in its completed global restructuring.  He has extensive experience advising high-yield bond issuers such as Consolidated Minerals and RCS & RDS.  Jim’s sovereign work includes advising the Hellenic Republic on a number of complex transactions, including its €7.16 billion bridge loan from the EU under the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism, and its €206 billion bond exchange that formed a key component of the country’s EU assistance package.  He has also advised on other sovereign debt management matters, including for Argentina, Nigeria, and the Dominican Republic.  Jim is the chair of the Cleary Gottlieb London LGBT Network.

Raymond Lam, counsel, focuses on corporate finance, private equity, venture capital, mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings, and general corporate regulatory and compliance advice.  Raymond is resident in the Hong Kong office.  He represented Samsonite in its acquisition of Tumi Holdings; Lenovo in its acquisition of IBM’s x86 server hardware and related maintenance services business; and China Life Insurance Company Limited in its purchase of all the shares of China Guangfa Bank held by Citigroup and by IBM Credit, a wholly owned affiliated entity of IBM.  He also represented Legend Holdings Corporation in its global offering of H Shares and listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange; and represented Morgan Stanley and BOCI, as joint sponsors, in connection with the global offering of WH Group Limited.

Chris Churl-Min Lee, counsel, focuses on organizing and advising private investment funds.  He is currently resident in the New York office, having spent much of his career in Hong Kong (where he will be permanently resident).  In addition to representing sponsors in their fund formation and investment activities, Chris advises institutions investing in private investment funds and separately managed accounts.  Chris has acted as counsel to Blackstone, BRV Lotus, Hanwha, Hillhouse Capital, KKR, Korea Investment Corporation, MBK Partners, Northstar, Samsung, Schulze Global, SK, TPG, and Unitas Capital, among others, on fund matters.  He advised BRV Lotus in the formation of its first growth fund; Hillhouse Capital in the formation of its private equity funds and various investment activities; MBK Partners in the formation of a recent private equity fund; and Northstar in the formation of its recent Southeast Asia-focused private equity fund.

David Little, counsel, focuses on UK and EU competition law, including merger control, cartels and restrictive agreements, abuse of dominance, and state aid.  He is resident in the London office.  David has represented Walt Disney in various EU and UK competition law matters, including the UK Competition Commission’s investigation into the UK pay-TV market; and NVIDIA in a damages claim in the English High Court against Qualcomm for abuse of dominance relating to pricing and licensing practices.  He has advised Google in various transactions, including the acquisitions of BeatThatQuote and Waze, and in the European Commission’s competition investigation of Google.  David advised Sony in the EU and international antitrust aspects of its $2.2 billion acquisition of EMI Music Publishing and its acquisition of the 50 percent interest in Sony/ATV held by the Estate of Michael Jackson.  He acted as counsel to GlaxoSmithKline in the global antitrust aspects of its multibillion-dollar, three-part transaction with Novartis involving its consumer health care, vaccines, and oncology businesses; and to Medtronic in the $49.9 billion acquisition of Covidien.  He acts as counsel to The Dow Chemical Company in connection with its announced $130 billion all-stock merger of equals with DuPont.  David recently completed a secondment to the Competition and Markets Authority.

Niklas Maydell, counsel, practices EU and international competition law, in particular in the context of complex merger control proceedings and antitrust investigations.  He is resident in the Brussels office.  Niklas also advises clients in EU law-related litigation and arbitration proceedings, as well as sector-specific EU regulatory matters.   Recent matters include representing Allergan before the European Commission and multiple other antitrust agencies globally in connection with Allergan’s proposed $160 billion merger with Pfizer and with the industry-transforming $39 billion sale of its generic pharmaceuticals business to Teva; Lafarge before the European Commission in connection with its €40 billion merger with Holcim, creating the world’s largest cement supplier, as well as in connection with Lafarge’s and Holcim’s €6.5 billion asset disposal to CRH, one of the largest remedies packages ever negotiated with the European Commission; Gazprom in its $2 billion complex asset swap with Wintershall, involving an exchange of interests in Russian gas fields for European gas production, distribution, and storage assets; and Samsung Electronics before the European Commission and several other key antitrust regulators in the pending $1.05 billion sale of its worldwide printer business to HP Inc.

Knox McIlwain, counsel, focuses on financial institutions with an emphasis on the regulation, resiliency, and resolution of global, systemically important banks. He is resident in the New York office, but will relocate to Cleary Gottlieb’s London office in the summer of 2017 in order to further strengthen the firm’s capabilities in providing seamless transatlantic regulatory advice to global financial institutions. Since the financial crisis, Knox has been actively engaged with both market participants and regulators in transatlantic regulatory reform initiatives to develop innovative approaches to financial company insolvency, such as the “bail-in” and “single point of entry” resolution strategies and the “total loss-absorbing capacity” (TLAC) framework.  Knox currently has a leading role in the firm’s advice to the Institute of International Bankers on the proposed U.S. TLAC rules and their implications for non-U.S. banks.  He also plays a leading role in the firm’s engagement advising the International Swaps and Derivatives Association on the development of the Resolution Stay Protocols, a mechanism hailed by the Financial Stability Board as a key element in global efforts to end the perception that certain banks are “too big to fail.”  He regularly advises clients on creditors’ rights and financial company insolvency matters regarding the Orderly Liquidation Authority provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act, the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, the Bankruptcy Code, the New York State branch “ring fence,” and, in consultation with European colleagues, the EU Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive.

Carlo Meert, counsel, focuses on mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance transactions.  He is resident in the Brussels office.  Carlo advised CVC in several projects, including its acquisition of the European activities of the Campbell Soup Company; and Dexia in its sale of Banque Internationale à Luxembourg to Precision Capital and the Luxembourg State.  He also advised Western Digital Corporation in its acquisition of Amplidata; Anbang Insurance Group in the acquisition of Delta Lloyd Bank Belgique; Umicore in its proposed sale of its Zinc Chemicals business; and IMS Health in its acquisition of Forcea.

Aaron Meyers, partner, focuses on mergers and acquisitions.  He is resident in the New York office.  Aaron is representing OpenText Corporation in its recently announced $1.62 billion acquisition of Dell EMC’s Enterprise Content Division.  He represented Family Dollar Stores in its acquisition by Dollar Tree for a combination of cash and stock worth $9.3 billion and the successful rejection of Dollar General’s hostile tender offer and Elliott Management’s threatened proxy contest; and Asahi Kasei in its acquisition of the energy storage business of Polypore International, a transaction valued at approximately $2.2 billion.  Aaron has also represented Google in several transactions; Warburg Pincus in its acquisitions of Electronic Funds Source and Wencor Group, among others; and TPG in its acquisition of Envision Pharmaceutical Services and subsequent $2 billion sale of Envision to Rite Aid.

Kenneth Reinker, partner, focuses on all aspects of U.S. antitrust law.  He is resident in the Washington office.  Ken’s merger control experience includes representing Western Digital in its $17 billion acquisition of SanDisk and its $4.8 billion acquisition of Hitachi’s hard drive business; Family Dollar in its $9.3 billion acquisition by Dollar Tree, and its rejection of Dollar General’s hostile tender offer on antitrust grounds; and IMS Health in its $17.6 billion merger with Quintiles and its prior acquisitions of Cegedim’s CRM and strategic data businesses and of SDI Health.  Ken’s litigation and investigation experience includes representing Sabre in lawsuits by American Airlines and US Airways challenging non-discrimination provisions in their agreements to distribute flights and fares through Sabre’s computerized reservation systems; ArcelorMittal in a class action alleging an industry-wide agreement to reduce steel output; and a global bank in global investigations into FX trading. Ken also has significant experience in pharmaceuticals, including representing Meda AB in its $9.9 billion acquisition by Mylan as well as a number of other clients in transactions, investigations, litigation, and patent settlements. Before joining Cleary Gottlieb, Ken was an antitrust economist.

Daniel Reynolds, partner, focuses on domestic and international real estate transactions.  He is resident in the New York office.  Dan regularly represents domestic and foreign clients, including investment banks, global asset managers, private equity, and sovereign funds.  He has represented clients in the negotiation of joint ventures to acquire, finance, and develop office, retail, hotel, multifamily, and mixed-use properties throughout the U.S. and in Europe; and he has advised both borrowers and lenders in mortgage and mezzanine financing transactions, including securitized and balance sheet loans, as well as construction financing.  Recently, Dan has represented several clients in complex real estate transactions, including an affiliate of a leading private equity fund as borrower in the mortgage and mezzanine refinancing of a trophy office complex in Chicago; a leading global asset manager as lender in the construction financing of a major residential condominium conversion in New York City; and a leading sovereign wealth fund in connection with its launch of a joint venture platform to acquire multifamily residential properties for conversion into furnished extended-stay apartments in the United States.

Kimberly Spoerri, partner, focuses on private and public mergers and acquisitions.  She is resident in the New York office.  Kim has played a key role on a variety of high-profile transactions in the technology and telecommunications sectors, including Warburg Pincus in its acquisition of Electronic Funds Source and the subsequent sale of EFS to WEX Inc.; Google in a variety of transactions, including its acquisitions of Waze and Motorola Mobility; American Tower in its $5 billion acquisition of over 11,000 wireless communications towers from Verizon; and Lenovo in its $2.3 billion acquisition of IBM’s x86 server business.  She also advised Allergan in its agreement to merge with Pfizer; OneWest Bank in its $3.4 billion sale to CIT Group; Genting Hong Kong as a shareholder of Norwegian Cruise Line in NCL’s $3 billion acquisition of Prestige Cruises International; GlaxoSmithKline in its unsolicited tender offer to acquire Human Genome Sciences and the resulting negotiated acquisition for $3.6 billion; and Pluspetrol Resources Corporation N.V. in its acquisition of Apco Oil and Gas International, Inc., and in its acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Harvest Natural Resources, Inc.