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 11, 2018

    MVP: Sullivan & Cromwell's Nader Mousavi

    Nader Mousavi, co-head of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP's intellectual property and technology group and head of its cybersecurity practice, led a team in helping a Google subsidiary launch independent companies from two of its successful technology projects and represented the analytics company Syntel Inc. in its acquisition for $3.57 billion, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2018 Technology MVPs.

  • December 11, 2018

    MVP: Proskauer's Jeff Horwitz

    Proskauer Rose LLP's Jeff Horwitz has guided many deals for longtime client AccorHotels, including its $320 million investment this year in SBE Entertainment Group for a 50 percent stake and its $51 million acquisition of an 85 percent stake in 21c Museum Hotels, landing him among Law360's 2018 Hospitality MVPs.

  • December 11, 2018

    MVP: Kirkland's Rohit Chaudhry

    Over the past several months, Rohit Chaudhry of Kirkland & Ellis LLP has helped close various project finance deals, including doing the holding company financing on a $2.4 billion deal that closed in May, earning him a spot as one of Law360's Project Finance MVPs.

  • December 11, 2018

    MVP: DLA Piper's Nancy Victory

    Nancy Victory, partner and co-chair of the global telecom practice at DLA Piper, has spent the better part of this year shepherding the megamerger of T-Mobile and Sprint, with a crucial advisory role on regulatory and strategic concerns for T-Mobile and its parent company Deutsche Telekom AG, landing her a spot among Law360's 2018 Telecommunications MVPs.

  • December 11, 2018

    MVP: Quinn Emanuel's Anthony Sinclair

    Anthony Sinclair of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP represented clients around the world in high profile arbitration proceedings, with wins for client DP World in its dispute with Djibouti and for AngloGold Ashanti in its challenge against Ghana, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2018 International Arbitration MVPs.

  • December 11, 2018

    MVP: Fish & Richardson's Jonathan Singer

    The head of Fish & Richardson PC's life sciences litigation practice, Jonathan Singer, persuaded a federal judge to overturn a $2.5 billion patent infringement verdict against Gilead Sciences Inc., earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2018 Life Sciences MVPs.

  • December 10, 2018

    MVP: Debevoise's David A. O'Neil

    David A. O'Neil of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP earned his place among Law360's 2018 White Collar MVPs by guiding Twitter through government investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, and by brokering the first-ever Foreign Corrupt Practices Act resolution with an Asian country, among other major achievements this year.

  • December 10, 2018

    MVP: Vinson & Elkins' Stephen Gill

    Stephen M. Gill, a partner in Vinson & Elkins LLP's mergers and acquisitions and capital markets practices, has wielded his vast experience in the energy space this year to keep intense competition at bay as lawyers from other big-name firms swoop into Houston and try to grab market share, making him one of Law360's 2018 Energy MVPs.

  • December 10, 2018

    MVP: King & Spalding's Ursula Henninger

    Ursula Henninger of King & Spalding LLP pulled out trial wins for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. in multiple suits this past year brought by former smokers who said the company intentionally hooked them and caused them injury, making her one of Law360's 2018 Trials MVPs.

  • December 10, 2018

    MVP: Sheppard Mullin's Craig Cardon

    Craig Cardon of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP has spent his year serving as Sonic Drive-In's lead counsel in multidistrict litigation over the fast food chain's 2017 data breach and working to bring a nearly decade-old data suit against Williams Sonoma to a close, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2018 Retail & E-Commerce MVPs.

  • December 10, 2018

    MVP: Hagens Berman's Steve W. Berman

    Steve W. Berman of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP has been involved in several high-profile class action cases, including a $25 million settlement with Samsung and Toshiba after the companies were accused of collectively raising prices of optical disk drives. These accomplishments landed him among Law360's 2018 Class Action MVPs.

  • December 10, 2018

    MVP: Boies Schiller's Karen Dunn

    Karen Dunn of Boies Schiller Flexner LLP shepherded Uber through a high-profile trade secrets case against Google's Waymo over self-driving car technology, hailing a spot on the list of Law360's 2018 Technology MVPs.

  • December 10, 2018

    MVP: Bass Berry's Angela Humphreys

    Bass Berry & Sims PLC's health care partner Angela Humphreys served an integral role in WellCare Health Plans Inc.'s $2.5 billion acquisition of Meridian Health Plans Inc., earning her a spot as one of Law360's 2018 Health MVPs.

  • December 10, 2018

    MVP: Skadden's Richard Youle

    Richard Youle of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP was a central figure in spearheading private equity firm HgCapital through a $5.3 billion consortium-led deal that bought up a stake in Norwegian software company Visma, making him one of Law360's 2018 Private Equity MVPs.

  • December 10, 2018

    MVP: Holland & Knight's Stacie Goeddel

    Holland & Knight LLP partner Stacie Goeddel demonstrated her gift for helping clients with complicated mixed-use developments over the past year, earning a spot among Law360's 2018 Hospitality MVPs with achievements like aiding Marriott with the takeover of the Trump International Hotel & Tower Panama.

  • December 10, 2018

    MVP: Freshfields' Elliot Friedman

    After years of arbitration and enforcement litigation Elliot Friedman of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP secured a $2 billion settlement from Venezuela's state-run oil company for an oil investor, ending collection efforts on island refineries in the Caribbean and landing him among Law360's 2018 International Arbitration MVPs.

  • December 10, 2018

    MVP: Quinn Emanuel's Victoria Maroulis

    Victoria Maroulis, the managing partner of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP's Silicon Valley office, helped close the door on a seven-year smartphone IP case that culminated in a historic settlement, earning her a spot as one of Law360's 2018 Telecommunications MVPs.

  • December 07, 2018

    MVP: Cozen O'Connor's Andrew Kay

    Andrew Kay's work with Thrivent Financial for Lutherans bore fruit over the past year for the life insurer and financial-products company with not one but two industry-affecting wins, making Kay one of Law360's 2018 Insurance MVPs.

  • December 07, 2018

    MVP: Simpson Thacher's David Lieberman

    David Lieberman of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP has been involved in several high-profile energy cases, including representing Vistra Energy Corp. in a $20 billion merger with Dynegy Inc. and helping Global Infrastructure Partners acquire NRG Energy's renewable energy business, landing him among Law360's 2018 Energy MVPs.

  • December 07, 2018

    MVP: Arnold & Porter's James Speyer

    James Speyer, a partner at Arnold & Porter's consumer protection and antitrust practice, secured major victories on behalf of Kohl's Department Stores in two false price advertising cases, landing him a spot as one of Law360's 2018 Retail & E-Commerce MVPs.

  • December 07, 2018

    MVP: Covington's Nancy Kestenbaum

    Nancy Kestenbaum of Covington & Burling LLP co-leads the high-profile investigation into sexual abuse claims at CBS and has helped private schools in similar reviews while maintaining a traditional defense practice, putting her among Law360's 2018 White Collar MVPs.

  • December 07, 2018

    MVP: Kirkland's James Hurst

    James Hurst of Kirkland & Ellis LLP spearheaded several signature trial wins this year, including reversing AbbVie's fortunes in a crucial bellwether over testosterone gel and helping a Bristol-Myers Squibb unit fend off a potential billion-dollar trade secrets allegation, landing him among Law360's 2018 Trials MVPs.

  • December 07, 2018

    MVP: Bernstein Litowitz's John Browne

    John Browne of Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP brought in hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements this past year for investors through securities class actions against companies like Clovis Oncology Inc., Amedisys Inc. and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, putting him among Law360's 2018 Class Action MVPs.

  • December 07, 2018

    MVP: Munger Tolles' Kelly M. Klaus

    Kelly M. Klaus, a litigation partner at Munger Tolles & Olson LLP, pushed FX Networks to a major victory for docudrama filmmakers in a suit brought by screen legend Olivia de Havilland alleging that the network improperly portrayed her, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2018 Media & Entertainment MVPs.

  • December 07, 2018

    MVP: Fox Rothschild's Nicholas Casiello Jr.

    Fox Rothschild LLP's Nicholas Casiello Jr. represented Seminole HR Holdings and MGM this past year, securing a casino operating license for Hard Rock in Atlantic City and advising on the $850 million purchase of a casino and racetrack in Yonkers, New York, for MGM, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2018 Hospitality MVPs.