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.
  • September 10, 2021

    MVP: Keker Van Nest's Robert Van Nest

    Robert Van Nest of Keker Van Nest & Peters LLP has secured major victories for high-profile tech clients, including Google in a multibillion-dollar copyright lawsuit brought by Oracle over the Android platform, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2021 Intellectual Property MVPs.

  • September 10, 2021

    MVP: Skadden's Allison Brown

    Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP partner Allison "Alli" Brown's work this past year defending Johnson & Johnson in cases alleging that its talc products caused cancer has landed her among Law360's 2021 Product Liability MVPs.

  • September 09, 2021

    MVP: Saxena White's Maya Saxena

    Maya Saxena successfully led her firm Saxena White PA in negotiating a $135 million settlement with DaVita Inc. over patient-steering allegations, an amount that ranks among the largest all-cash securities class action recoveries in the Tenth Circuit's history and has earned her a spot among Law360's 2021 Securities MVPs.

  • September 09, 2021

    MVP: Cohen Milstein's Joseph M. Sellers

    Joseph Sellers of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC's employment practice led a class of flight service specialists to a $44 million settlement with the Federal Aviation Administration to end one of the federal government's largest age bias payouts, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2021 Employment MVPs.

  • September 09, 2021

    MVP: Skadden's Ingrid Vandenborre

    Ingrid Vandenborre of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP won over the European Commission on commitments that ended a three-year probe into Aspen Pharmacare Holdings, making her one of Law360's 2021 Competition MVPs.

  • September 09, 2021

    MVP: Sullivan & Worcester's Richard L. Jones

    Sullivan & Worcester LLP tax partner Richard L. Jones helped clients prevail in key decisions in Massachusetts implicating the technology industry, including Oracle's successful challenge in the state's highest court over sales tax on software, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2021 Tax MVPs.

  • September 09, 2021

    MVP: Arnold & Porter's Matthew Wolf

    Arnold & Porter partner Matthew Wolf won a major patent victory for Sanofi and Regeneron at the Federal Circuit and defended the assignor estoppel doctrine at the U.S. Supreme Court, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2021 Intellectual Property MVPs.

  • September 09, 2021

    MVP: Cravath's Mark I. Greene

    Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP's Mark I. Greene helped guide Mylan NV in its $50 billion combination with Pfizer's Upjohn to form Viatris Inc., which is now one of the largest generic pharmaceuticals companies in the world, earning him a spot among Law360's 2021 Mergers & Acquisitions MVPs.

  • September 09, 2021

    MVP: Kirkland's John Pitts

    John Pitts of Kirkland & Ellis LLP guided energy deals totaling more than $15.5 billion in the past year, including advising Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners through a $750 million joint venture and guiding Alta Resources through its $2.9 billion sale to EQT, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2021 Energy MVPs.

  • September 09, 2021

    MVP: Paul Weiss' Kannon K. Shanmugam

    Kannon K. Shanmugam of Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP notched three U.S. Supreme Court wins and a handful of circuit court victories last year, including favorable rulings in a landmark climate change case and a $13 billion securities class action against Goldman Sachs, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2021 Appellate MVPs.

  • September 08, 2021

    MVP: Latham's Bert Reiser & David Callahan

    Bert Reiser and David Callahan of Latham & Watkins LLP led a team of global attorneys that successfully secured a $1.8 billion settlement — the largest ever in a trade secrets case — for LG Energy Solution Ltd. in a bitter dispute with its South Korean rival SK Innovation, earning them a spot among Law360's 2021 Intellectual Property MVPs.

  • September 08, 2021

    MVP: Seyfarth Shaw's Gerald L. Maatman

    Gerald L. Maatman Jr. of the Seyfarth Shaw LLP employment law practice group secured a settlement that paid workers in gift cards to end a sprawling class action against Jimmy John's that threatened its franchise business model, securing him a spot as one of Law360's 2021 Employment MVPs.

  • September 08, 2021

    MVP: Gibson Dunn's Pamela Lawrence Endreny

    Pamela Lawrence Endreny led a Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP tax team representing Merck in a pair of colossal deals, a $2.75 billion acquisition of VelosBio and $9.2 billion sale of Organon & Co., earning her a spot among Law360's 2021 Tax MVPs.

  • September 08, 2021

    MVP: Skadden's Frank Bayouth

    Frank Bayouth of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP's energy practice led a team that helped secure a merger of equals between Devon Energy and WPX Energy, creating a company with an enterprise value of about $12 billion and helping earn him a spot as one of Law360's 2021 Energy MVPs.

  • September 08, 2021

    MVP: Quinn Emanuel's Isaac Nesser

    Isaac Nesser helped lead a team of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP litigators in resolving approximately 100 mortgage contract indemnity suits, recouping more than $1.4 billion for the ResCap Liquidating Trust — previously the Residential Funding Co. LLC — and earning him a spot among Law360's 2021 Securities MVPs.

  • September 08, 2021

    MVP: Cravath's Gary A. Bornstein

    Gary A. Bornstein of Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP helped Qualcomm get reversed a Federal Trade Commission trial win that could have fundamentally rewritten the chipmaker's business model, making him one of Law360's 2021 Competition MVPs.

  • September 08, 2021

    MVP: Quinn Emanuel's Derek L. Shaffer

    Derek L. Shaffer of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP successfully challenged a California donor disclosure law before the U.S. Supreme Court, and got Delaware's highest court to reverse an adverse $82 million jury verdict in a suit alleging Express Scripts Inc. committed fraud to close a multimillion-dollar acquisition, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2021 Appellate MVPs.

  • September 08, 2021

    MVP: Cahill Gordon's Kimberly C. Petillo-Décossard

    Kimberly Petillo-Décossard of Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP helped represent 1-800-Flowers for a contested acquisition early in the pandemic and advised pharmaceutical services company ICON for its largest-ever deal, earning her a spot as one of Law360's 2021 Mergers & Acquisitions MVPs.

  • September 07, 2021

    MVP: Latham's Grace Lee

    Latham & Watkins LLP's Grace Lee has guided a variety of clients through major transactions over the past year, including advising TurboTax company Intuit on the tax aspects of its deal to acquire Credit Karma, earning her a spot as one of Law360's Tax MVPs.

  • September 07, 2021

    MVP: Orrick's Erin Connell

    Erin Connell of Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP's employment law and litigation practice helped computer technology giant Oracle defeat a sweeping $400 million administrative pay bias suit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, earning her a spot among Law360's 2021 Employment MVPs.

  • September 07, 2021

    MVP: Davis Polk's Damian Schaible

    Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP partner Damian Schaible's work guiding creditor groups through a fresh wave of energy company bankruptcies, including the case of natural gas giant Chesapeake Energy Corp., has earned him a spot on Law360's 2021 list of Energy MVPs.

  • September 07, 2021

    MVP: Sullivan & Cromwell's David M.J. Rein

    Sullivan & Cromwell LLP partner David M.J. Rein took a securities suit he's defended Goldman Sachs against for more than a decade up to the U.S. Supreme Court, secured dismissals and favorable settlements for his clients and guided his firm's litigation group through the tribulations of the pandemic, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2021 Securities MVPs.

  • September 07, 2021

    MVP: Jenner & Block's Alex Hadjis

    Jenner & Block LLP partner Alex Hadjis helped Roku beat infringement claims in the first patent jury trial overseen by U.S. District Judge Alan Albright, earning the Washington, D.C.-based attorney a spot as one of Law360's 2021 Intellectual Property MVPs.

  • September 07, 2021

    MVP: Wachtell's Andy Nussbaum

    Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz partner Andy Nussbaum has counseled clients through numerous complex matters over the past 12 months, from a uniquely structured $43 billion spinoff involving AT&T, WarnerMedia and Discovery to the $27.7 billion acquisition of workplace messaging company Slack by Salesforce, landing him among Law360's 2021 Mergers & Acquisitions MVPs.

  • September 07, 2021

    MVP: Gibson Dunn's Daniel G. Swanson

    Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP's Daniel G. Swanson helped lead Apple's trial defense in the high-profile monopolization case over its App Store brought by Epic Games and got a verdict reversed in an antitrust case against tobacco company Swisher International, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2021 Competition MVPs.

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