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.
  • November 15, 2024

    MVP: King & Spalding's Stephen J. Orava

    Stephen Orava, chair of King & Spalding's global trade practice, brought a family-owned pea protein company across the finish line when the U.S. International Trade Commission unanimously affirmed that plant proteins from China were hurting the domestic industry and took the reins on developing strategies targeting the potential impacts of China's overcapacity in chemical sectors, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 International Trade MVPs.

  • November 15, 2024

    MVP: Weil's Stephanie E. Srulowitz

    Stephanie E. Srulowitz of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP's U.S. private funds practice led real estate investment firm Crow Holdings Capital Partners in raising a $3.1 billion Fund X, guided Lee Equity Partners to close an oversubscribed $1.3 billion Fund IV and shepherded Graycliff Partners in a $600 million fundraise push, earning her a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Fund Formation MVPs.

  • November 15, 2024

    MVP: McNicholas & McNicholas' Matthew McNicholas

    This past year, Matthew McNicholas of McNicholas & McNicholas LLP secured a trio of multimillion-dollar verdicts on behalf of police officers who alleged they were mistreated by their departments, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Employment MVPs.

  • November 15, 2024

    MVP: Williams & Connolly's Lisa S. Blatt

    Lisa S. Blatt of Williams & Connolly LLP's appellate practice won high-profile victories at the U.S. Supreme Court involving injunctions against employers and the scope of federal bribery law in corruption cases, earning her a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Appellate MVPs.

  • November 15, 2024

    MVP: Sidley's Mehdi Khodadad

    Mehdi Khodadad of Sidley Austin LLP's private equity practice advised Clearlake Capital Group LP and its partners through more than $18 billion worth of transactions in a year marked by high interest rates, including the $4.4 billion take-private deal for artificial intelligence company Alteryx Inc., earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Private Equity MVPs.

  • November 15, 2024

    MVP: Ropes & Gray's Tim McCrystal

    Tim McCrystal, co-chair of Ropes & Gray LLP's healthcare practice, has guided clients through serious regulatory changes, including advising Vistria Portfolio Co. in its acquisition of Recco Home Care Services Inc. and representing Gentiva in the $350 million sale of its personal care business, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Healthcare MVPs.

  • November 14, 2024

    MVP: Davis Polk's Joe Hall

    Joe Hall, a partner in Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP's capital markets practice, resolved multiple matters that were years in the making when he helped bring a bitcoin exchange-traded product to market and removed long-standing liquidity roadblocks for certain Visa stockholders, earning him a spot among the 2024 Law360 Fintech MVPs.

  • November 14, 2024

    MVP: Gibson Dunn's Jason Schwartz

    Jason C. Schwartz, a partner at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, secured rulings from the bench in a case about his client Fearless Foundation's awarding of grants to Black female entrepreneurs and in another dispute representing DraftKings as the company sought to stop a former executive from soliciting customers ahead of the Super Bowl, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Employment MVPs.

  • November 14, 2024

    MVP: Hogan Lovells' Jessica Ellsworth

    Jessica Ellsworth of Hogan Lovells' appellate practice argued in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Danco Laboratories, leading to the overturning of a decision that threatened to block access to the company's abortion medication, and on behalf of Coinbase, resulting in a holding that it is up to judges, not arbitrators, to figure out if contracts between businesses and consumers have subtly superseded earlier agreements to proceed in arbitration rather than litigation. The back-to-back arguments helped earn her a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Appellate MVPs.

  • November 14, 2024

    MVP: King & Spalding's Richard Zall

    Richard Zall of King & Spalding LLP's healthcare practice guided Lehigh Valley Health Network through a $14 billion merger with Jefferson Health, worked on the sale of two Ascension healthcare facilities, and helped secure close to $90 million in early-stage funding for Eleanor Health, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Healthcare MVPs.

  • November 14, 2024

    MVP: Paul Weiss' Matt Abbott

    Matt Abbott of Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP's private equity practice group advised Canadian real estate firm Tricon Residential in its $3.5 billion buyout by American firm Blackstone Real Estate, guided private equity firm General Atlantic through its acquisition of energy infrastructure firm Actis and helped private equity giant TPG with its investment in human resources and technology services platform G&A Partners, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Private Equity MVPs.

  • November 14, 2024

    MVP: Covington's Heather Finstuen

    Covington & Burling LLP's Heather Finstuen won regulatory approval for two companies' $7.9 billion acquisition of a nuclear power company, Westinghouse Electric Co., and BAE Systems Inc.'s $5.6 billion purchase of Ball Aerospace, earning her a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 International Trade MVPs.

  • November 14, 2024

    MVP: Kirkland's Robert Blaustein

    Robert Blaustein of Kirkland & Ellis LLP's investment funds practice group currently counsels 10 funds seeking more than $50 billion of capital, and has led sponsors in raising more than $100 billion in aggregate capital, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Fund Formation MVPs.

  • November 13, 2024

    MVP: White & Case's David Bond

    White & Case LLP's David Bond convinced the U.S. International Trade Commission to hit the brakes on duties for a German steel company and freed an Italian aluminum company from the specter of antidumping duties, earning him a spot among the 2024 Law360 International Trade MVPs.

  • November 13, 2024

    MVP: Sheppard Mullin's Eric Klein

    Eric Klein of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP's national healthcare practice helped navigate the regulatory approvals required in several states to complete a $4 billion partnership between Elevance Health and private investment firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Healthcare MVPs.

  • November 13, 2024

    MVP: Cleary's Matt Solomon

    Matt Solomon of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP's digital asset disputes practice won a rare dismissal from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission when the agency dropped its claims against the CEO of Ripple Labs, and he's taking the lessons from that case to defend another high-profile crypto suit from the SEC, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Fintech MVPs.

  • November 13, 2024

    MVP: Paul Weiss' Marco Masotti

    Over the past year, Marco Masotti of Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP's investment funds group helped Apollo Global Management close its $20 billion Apollo Fund X and guided Oak Hill Capital through several major private equity transactions, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Fund Formation MVPs.

  • November 13, 2024

    MVP: Cravath's David J. Perkins

    David Perkins of Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP advised Amentum in its all-stock, reverse Morris trust merger with Jacobs' government services businesses that created a combined company with $13 billion in revenue, and also led Brookfield Renewable Partners in its $8 billion acquisition of Westinghouse, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Private Equity MVPs.

  • November 13, 2024

    MVP: Sullivan & Cromwell's Jeff Wall

    Jeff Wall, who heads Sullivan & Cromwell LLP's Supreme Court and appellate practice, won a unanimous high court ruling that insurers can enforce choice-of-law provisions in maritime policies, triumphed over a Delaware Supreme Court case for Bayer AG involving liability for billions of dollars in consumers' talc claims, and preserved the MLB's antitrust exemption, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Appellate MVPs.

  • November 13, 2024

    MVP: Fried Frank's Matthew D. Parrott

    Matthew Parrott of Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP secured a major victory for a big hotel property lender in Manhattan and Los Angeles in a foreclosure suit and clinched a win in a notable case over an eminent domain petition in Texas, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Real Estate MVPs.

  • November 13, 2024

    MVP: Duane Morris' Gerald L. Maatman Jr.

    Gerald L. Maatman Jr. of Duane Morris LLP has helped his clients fend off potentially catastrophic exposures, including a suit alleging Geico misclassified thousands of insurance agents, by utilizing defense strategies to gut the claims before courts were able to assess the merits of the case, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Employment MVPs.

  • November 12, 2024

    MVP: Holland & Knight's Antonia Tzinova

    Antonia Tzinova of Holland & Knight LLP successfully challenged U.S. Customs and Border Protection's refusal to share certain evidence used in a tariff evasion determination — spurring the agency to implement a new transparent Administrative Protective Order system, and earning Tzinova a spot among the 2024 Law360 International Trade MVPs.

  • November 12, 2024

    MVP: Latham's Benjamin Naftalis And Douglas Yatter

    Benjamin Naftalis and Douglas Yatter of Latham & Watkins LLP served as lead counsel for Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao in a high–profile anti-money laundering investigation and represented Andreessen Horowitz in a proposed class action, earning them a spot among the 2024 Law360 Fintech MVPs.

  • November 12, 2024

    MVP: Gibson Dunn's Allyson Ho

    Allyson N. Ho of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP's appellate practice won a high-profile and unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruling reversing decades of bankruptcy precedent, and another unanimous win at the Third Circuit safeguarding crime victims' rights, earning her a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Appellate MVPs.

  • November 12, 2024

    MVP: Orrick's Teresa Hill

    Teresa Hill of Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP guided Microsoft Corp. through several major deals aimed at making the computing giant's operations more environmentally friendly, earning her a spot among the Law360 2024 Energy MVPs.

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