Rankings: MVPs of the Year

Law360’s MVPs of the Year recognizes the five attorneys who had extraordinary wins and contributed most to their practice area in the past year. The series showcases standout attorneys across the practice areas and industries covered by Law360.
  • December 02, 2016

    Appellate MVP: Fish & Richardson's Craig Countryman

    Fish & Richardson PC appellate practice co-chair Craig Countryman this year helped persuade the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a stringent test for awarding enhanced damages in patent cases, a key ruling that has earned Countryman a spot among Law360’s 2016 Appellate MVPs.

  • December 02, 2016

    Capitals Markets MVP: Weil's Corey Chivers

    Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP veteran Corey Chivers guided the transformation of General Electric Co.'s capital structure amid a historic downsizing and counseled underwriters of massive bond offerings by Microsoft Corp. over the past year, earning him a spot among Law360's capital markets MVPs.

  • December 02, 2016

    Consumer Protection MVP: Jones Day's Darren Cottriel

    Jones Day partner Darren K. Cottriel gave Procter & Gamble Co. a boost this year by successfully defending the conglomerate against multiple class actions claiming it duped consumers into paying more for certain Duracell batteries through false promises, powering him to Law360’s list of Consumer Protection MVPs.

  • December 02, 2016

    Banking MVP: Sullivan & Cromwell's Andrew Gerlach

    In the past year, Sullivan & Cromwell partner Andrew Gerlach has had a hand in finalizing three of the largest bank acquisitions since the financial crisis, including the long-delayed $3.7 billion sale of Hudson City Bancorp to M&T Bank Corp., earning him a spot among Law360's banking MVPs.

  • December 02, 2016

    Health MVP: Jones Day's Kenneth Field

    Jones Day partner Ken Field helped hospitals in West Virginia and Minnesota consummate mergers and acquisitions despite hostility from the Federal Trade Commission, placing him among Law360’s Health MVPs of 2016.

  • December 01, 2016

    Insurance MVP: Covington & Burling's Marty Myers

    Covington & Burling LLP partner Marty Myers recently helped World Fuel Services, one of the largest suppliers of fuel and oil products on the planet, score a $24.5 million award for insurance coverage related to a $17 million marine cargo loss off the coast of West Africa, landing him a spot on Law360's 2016 list of Insurance MVPs.

  • December 01, 2016

    M&A MVP: MoFo's Robert Townsend

    Morrison & Foerster LLP global M&A practice co-chair Robert Townsend has built a career steering complex transactions, a feat that landed him a role in two record technology plays unveiled over the last year and earned him a spot among Law360's 2016 merger and acquisition MVPs.

  • December 01, 2016

    White Collar MVP: Bracewell's Paul Shechtman

    Bracewell LLP partner Paul Shechtman landed a spot among Law360's 2016 White Collar MVPs by securing a deferred prosecution deal for former Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP client relations manager Zachary Warren just weeks before a scheduled trial on charges connected to the firm's collapse.

  • December 01, 2016

    Tax MVP: McDermott Will & Emery's Todd Welty

    McDermott Will & Emery LLP’s Todd Welty landed a major victory for a German auto parts supplier in a high-stakes privilege dispute with the IRS and scored a rare win against the agency over another company’s multimillion-dollar tax liability, earning him a spot among Law360’s 2016 tax MVPs.

  • November 30, 2016

    White Collar MVPs: King & Spalding's Richter And Pauzé

    King & Spalding's John Richter and Michael Pauzé cemented their spot among Law360's White Collar MVPs by working together on a masterful trial defense of Vascular Solutions Inc. and separately scoring high-profile wins for AT&T and PricewaterhouseCoopers' Brazilian subsidiary.

  • November 30, 2016

    M&A MVP: Paul Weiss' Robert Schumer

    Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP’s Robert Schumer helped guide a multitude of major transactions over the past year, including the megamerger of Time Warner Cable and Charter Communications and a tie-up of two Canadian agricultural giants, placing him among Law360’s Mergers and Acquisitions MVPs.

  • November 30, 2016

    Tax MVP: Latham & Watkins' David Raab

    Latham & Watkins LLP partner David S. Raab spent his year structuring tens of billions of dollars’ worth of mergers and acquisitions in deals that spanned semiconductors, aviation services, telecommunications and shampoo in the most tax-friendly way possible, netting him a spot among Law360's 2016 Tax MVPs.

  • November 30, 2016

    Insurance MVP: Dentons' Keith Moskowitz

    Keith Moskowitz not only helped Dentons win a big trial for an insurance company defending against an environmental coverage suit and bad faith action, but also advised clients in several significant cases this past year, earning himself a spot on Law360’s 2016 list of Insurance MVPs.

  • November 29, 2016

    White Collar MVP: Dechert's Andrew Levander

    Dechert partner Andrew Levander remained a white collar heavy hitter this year by brokering a landmark settlement in Takata air bag defect litigation and representing high-profile clients like GM’s former General Counsel Michael Millikin, landing him one of five spots on Law360’s list of White Collar MVPs.

  • November 29, 2016

    Insurance MVP: Pillsbury Winthrop's Geoffrey Greeves

    Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP partner Geoffrey J. Greeves recently helped Lion Oil Co. score a massive, $72 million award in a lawsuit over insurance coverage for business interruption losses tied to a pipeline breach, landing him a spot among Law360’s 2016 Insurance MVPs.

  • November 29, 2016

    Tax MVP: Baker & McKenzie's Thomas Linguanti

    Baker & McKenzie’s Thomas Linguanti landed on Law360’s 2016 list of Tax MVPs after his research, litigation and leadership skills ushered Medtronic Inc. to a much-hyped victory in a $1.36 billion tax deficiency row, while also setting the discourse among practitioners on how to handle such cases.

  • November 29, 2016

    M&A MVP: Simpson Thacher's Alan Klein

    Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP's mergers and acquisitions co-head Alan Klein helmed a series of transformative megadeals in the last year, including ChemChina’s record $43 billion acquisition of Swiss seeds and pesticides maker Syngenta, earning him a spot among Law360’s 2016 MVPs.

  • November 28, 2016

    White Collar MVP: Quinn Emanuel's William Burck

    Former Virginia first lady Maureen McDonnell’s corruption conviction was reversed under the counsel of William Burck, a Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP partner who has represented multiple high-profile clients — including FIFA — in cross-border criminal investigations, earning him a spot among Law360's 2016 White Collar MVPs.

  • November 28, 2016

    Tax MVP: Dakessian Law's Marty Dakessian

    Dakessian Law Ltd.'s Marty Dakessian has saved his clients millions of dollars in disputes with the California Franchise Tax Board since he broke off from BigLaw to form his own niche practice at the beginning of 2016, earning himself a spot once more among Law360's Tax MVPs.

  • November 28, 2016

    Insurance MVP: McKool Smith's Robin Cohen

    Fresh off of launching McKool Smith PC’s new insurance recovery practice, Robin Cohen spent 2016 scoring significant victories against carriers including new holdings over insurance coverage allocation methods, landing her among Law360’s 2016 Insurance MVPs.

  • November 28, 2016

    M&A MVP: Sullivan & Cromwell's Frank Aquila

    More than three decades into his career, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP attorney Francis J. Aquila is as busy as ever, and his work this past year on blockbuster deals for clients including Diebold and AB InBev places him among Law360’s Mergers and Acquisitions MVPs.

  • November 23, 2016

    White Collar MVP: Morvillo Abramowitz's Elkan Abramowitz

    Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello PC name partner Elkan Abramowitz undermined prosecutors' case against Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP Chairman Steven Davis during a marathon trial last year involving a mountain of evidence, and did it without calling a single witness, landing him among Law360's White Collar MVPs.

  • November 23, 2016

    Banking MVP: Sullivan & Cromwell's Mitchell Eitel

    Sullivan & Cromwell LLP’s Mitchell S. Eitel has for years been one of the banking bar’s preeminent voices, and his work guiding several banks and other financial institutions through a series of complex transactions and thorny regulatory issues earned him a spot among Law360’s Banking MVPs for 2016.

  • November 23, 2016

    M&A MVP: Weil's Michael Aiello

    Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP corporate head Michael Aiello's M&A expertise landed him at the helm of more than $250 billion worth of deals in the past year, including negotiating three complex multibillion-dollar deals at once, earning him a spot on Law360's list of M&A MVPs.

  • November 23, 2016

    Tax MVP: Davis Polk's Neil Barr

    Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP’s Neil Barr spent most of this year guiding clients like Lockheed Martin Corp., ConAgra Foods Inc. and McKesson Corp. in billions of dollars of complex transactions to maximize tax efficiency, earning him a spot among Law360’s 2016 tax MVPs.