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.
  • October 06, 2023

    MVP: Duane Morris' Gerald L. Maatman Jr.

    Gerald L. Maatman Jr. of Duane Morris LLP has taken on mammoth employment law class action cases and successfully whittled down the suits that posed existential threats to the businesses he represents, earning him a spot among Law360's 2023 Employment MVPs.

  • October 06, 2023

    MVP: Sullivan & Cromwell's Bob Downes

    Bob Downes, co-head of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP's capital markets practice group, oversaw the creation of an innovative transaction structure that helped one of the firm's biotech clients through an acquisition by Pfizer while still maintaining value to a pipeline of new drug products it was developing. His spearheading of that transaction, as well as his dedication to leadership and mentorship in a post-pandemic legal world, earned him a spot among Law360's 2023 Capital Market MVPs.

  • October 05, 2023

    MVP: Paul Weiss' Alice Eaton

    Alice Eaton of Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP's bankruptcy practice helped secure approval of cosmetic giant Revlon's reorganization plan and arrange restructuring support agreements in the Chapter 11 cases of pharmaceutical companies Mallinckrodt and Endo International, earning her a spot as one of Law360's 2023 Bankruptcy MVPs.

  • October 05, 2023

    MVP: Simpson Thacher's Ravi Purushotham

    Ravi Purushotham of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP's mergers and acquisitions practice has led major banks, private equity firms, private and public companies, and others through complex, multibillion-dollar transactions in the past year alone, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2023 Banking MVPs.

  • October 05, 2023

    MVP: Weil's David Singh

    David Singh of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP's complex commercial litigation practice often finds himself working to defend clients against large consumer classes. In April, Singh was co-lead counsel for Scripps Network as the network fielded a consumer class action alleging it violated the Video Privacy Protection Act, earning him a spot as one of Law360's Class Action MVPs.

  • October 05, 2023

    MVP: Skadden's Michelle Gasaway

    Michelle Gasaway of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP's capital markets practice has worked with large clients on various deals and transactions, such as leading the representation of Intel Corp.'s self-driving unit Mobileye Global Inc. in its initial public offering, earning her a spot among Law360's 2023 Capital Markets MVPs.

  • October 05, 2023

    MVP: Quinn Emanuel's Chris Michel

    Chris Michel of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP helped secure a win at the Supreme Court when justices found that Alabama's congressional map broke the Voting Rights Act and then, just one week later, tagged another victory in the same court when it upheld the Indian Child Welfare Act against a number of constitutional tests, earning him a place among Law360's 2023 Appellate MVPs.

  • October 05, 2023

    MVP: Dentons' Eric Berlin

    Eric Berlin of Dentons US LLP led the way in helping cannabis company Bright Green secure authorization from the Drug Enforcement Administration to grow federally approved cannabis for research purposes and get it a listing on Nasdaq, earning him a spot among Law360's 2023 Cannabis MVPs.

  • October 04, 2023

    MVP: Kirkland & Ellis' Sophia Hudson

    Over the past year, Sophia Hudson of Kirkland & Ellis LLP spearheaded transactions worth hundreds of millions of dollars for major companies such as Bed Bath & Beyond, Norwegian Cruise Line and WeWork, earning her a spot among Law360's 2023 Capital Markets MVPs.

  • October 04, 2023

    MVP: Morgan Lewis' Jeremy Blumenfeld

    Morgan Lewis & Bockius' Jeremy Blumenfeld secured a win before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in a ruling that outlined the standards for how workers need to plead violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act if they're challenging investment offerings or fees in a defined contribution plan in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Hughes v. Northwestern, landing him a spot as one of Law360's MVPs in benefits law. 

  • October 04, 2023

    MVP: Stueve Siegel's Norman Siegel

    Norm Siegel of Stueve Siegel Hanson LLP has helped thousands of people take on major companies in high-stakes class actions, including one against State Farm that his firm identified as the largest settlement reached in cost of insurance litigation, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2023 Class Action MVPs.

  • October 04, 2023

    MVP: Mayer Brown's Mark G. Hanchet

    Mark G. Hanchet of Mayer Brown LLP's banking practice shepherded in two high-profile victories for clients in the D.C. Circuit and the Second Circuit that curb liability under the Anti-Terrorism Act for the entire financial industry, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2023 Banking MVPs.

  • October 04, 2023

    MVP: Jones Day's Yaakov Roth

    Yaakov Roth of Jones Day represented North American Coal Corp. in a U.S. Supreme Court case with a huge impact on administrative law as justices swept away the Obama administration's signature clean energy plan, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2023 Appellate MVPs.

  • October 04, 2023

    MVP: Kramer Levin's Rachael Ringer

    Rachael Ringer of Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP's bankruptcy practice represented creditors in such major bankruptcies as LATAM Airlines, Purdue Pharma, Endo International and the Boy Scouts of America, earning her a spot as one of Law360's 2023 Bankruptcy MVPs.

  • October 03, 2023

    MVP: Quinn Emanuel's Crystal Nix-Hines

    Crystal Nix-Hines of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP founded the firm's education practice group about six months before the COVID-19 pandemic began. Since then, she and her team have obtained a string of victories in class actions filed against universities following the transition to remote education, earning Nix-Hines a spot among Law360's 2023 Class Action MVPs.

  • October 03, 2023

    MVP: Hogan Lovells' Jessica Ellsworth

    Jessica Ellsworth of Hogan Lovells spent a whirlwind two weeks fighting her way up to the U.S. Supreme Court to preserve nationwide access to the widely used abortion medication mifepristone, earning her a spot as one of Law360's 2023 Appellate MVPs. 

  • October 03, 2023

    MVP: Davis Polk's Margaret Tahyar

    Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP's Margaret E. Tahyar was the trusted hand that the banking industry repeatedly turned to for counsel this spring amid a string of some of the biggest bank failures in U.S. history, earning her a place among Law360's 2023 Banking MVPs.

  • October 03, 2023

    MVP: Debevoise's Paul Rodel

    Paul Rodel of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP's capital markets practice guided AIG and Corebridge Financial in the largest IPO of 2022, following the largest debt offering undertaken by an insurance company, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2023 Capital Markets MVPs.

  • October 03, 2023

    MVP: Brown Rudnick's David Molton

    David Molton of Brown Rudnick LLP has fought to defend victims in some of the most consequential Chapter 11 cases of the past year, challenging corporate powers' attempts to use bankruptcy to shield themselves from liability and winning high-profile dismissals and record settlements, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2023 Bankruptcy MVPs.

  • October 03, 2023

    MVP: Mayer Brown's Nancy Ross

    Nancy Ross of Mayer Brown LLP persuaded a Connecticut jury that Yale University did not squander benefits plan funds on recordkeeping fees, cementing her spot among Law360's 2023 Benefits MVPs.

  • October 02, 2023

    MVP: Cravath's Michael E. Mariani

    Michael E. Mariani of Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP's corporate law department led multiple record-setting corporate transactions this year, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2023 Capital Markets MVPs.

  • October 02, 2023

    MVP: Lieff Cabraser's Kelly Dermody

    Kelly Dermody of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP, who doubles as the firm's managing partner in San Francisco, notched one of the largest discrimination settlements in U.S. history this year in a decade-long case against Goldman Sachs, earning her a spot as one of Law360's 2023 Class Action MVPs.

  • October 02, 2023

    MVP: Davis Polk's Jennifer Conway

    Jennifer Conway joined Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP in January 2022 and was leading its executive compensation practice group by the year's end, while helping major clients such as Shearman & Sterling and Exxon Mobil navigate corporate transactions, earning her a spot among Law360's 2023 Benefits MVPs.

  • October 02, 2023

    MVP: Akerman's Michael Goldberg

    Michael Goldberg of Akerman LLP's bankruptcy practice helped secure $1.1 billion for victims of the 2021 collapse of a condominium complex in Surfside, Florida, in his role as court-appointed receiver, earning him a spot among Law360's 2023 Bankruptcy MVPs.

  • October 02, 2023

    MVP: Covington & Burling's Ashley Simonsen

    Over the last year, Ashley Simonsen of Covington & Burling LLP secured dismissal of proposed class actions against financial services giant Capital One and fintech companies PayPal and Afterpay, earning her a spot as one of Law360's 2023 Banking MVPs.

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