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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 30, 2018

    MVP: Kirkland's Richard Godfrey

    Richard Godfrey of Kirkland & Ellis LLP has long represented clients in high-profile and high-stakes matters — including representing BP in the Deepwater Horizon disaster and General Motors Co. in the ignition switch litigation — boosting him to the list of Law360's 2018 Product Liability MVPs.

  • November 30, 2018

    MVP: McDermott's Lisa O'Neill

    Lisa O'Neill, a partner in McDermott Will & Emery LLP's corporate practice, represented Praxair in the divestments it needed to make to get approval of its merger with Linde, earning her a spot as one of Law360's 2018 Mergers & Acquisitions MVPs.

  • November 30, 2018

    MVP: Cohen Milstein's Andrew N. Friedman

    Andrew N. Friedman, co-chair of the consumer protection practice group at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, helped earn final approval of a $115 million settlement that ended litigation over health care giant Anthem Inc.'s 2015 data breach and represented consumers in other headline-grabbing breaches, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2018 Cybersecurity & Privacy MVPs. 

  • November 30, 2018

    MVP: Morrison & Foerster's Karen Kubin

    Karen Kubin of Morrison & Foerster LLP helped employers fend off potentially costly suits seeking pay overtime for classes of workers over the past year, earning the longtime employment litigator a spot among Law360's 2018 Employment MVPs.

  • November 30, 2018

    MVP: Pomerantz's Emma Gilmore

    Pomerantz LLP partner Emma Gilmore helped secure $3 billion for a class of investors who alleged securities of Brazil's state-run oil giant Petrobras were negatively impacted by a massive corruption scandal, earning her a spot as one of Law360's 2018 Securities MVPs.

  • November 30, 2018

    MVP: Williams & Connolly's Kannon Shanmugam

    Kannon Shanmugam of Williams & Connolly LLP earned two big wins in the U.S. Supreme Court in the last year — narrowing the scope of the term "whistleblower" in Digital Realty Trust Inc. v. Somers and strengthening arbitration clauses in contracts in Ernst & Young LLP v. Morris — earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2018 Appellate MVPs.

  • November 29, 2018

    MVP: Mayer Brown's Paul Hughes

    Paul Hughes, a Mayer Brown LLP partner in the firm's Supreme Court and appellate practice, has scored a number of intellectual property victories at the Federal Circuit, including one that clarified the standard of divided infringement, landing him a spot as one of Law360's 2018 Intellectual Property MVPs.

  • November 29, 2018

    MVP: Latham & Watkins' Robert Buday

    Robert Buday of Latham & Watkins LLP is the king of billion-dollar real estate deals, guiding Phillips Edison & Co. on two key acquisitions that transformed the company, as well as major deals involving Bass Pro Shops and Hyatt Hotels Corp. to earn a spot as one of Law360's 2018 Real Estate MVPs.

  • November 29, 2018

    MVP: Sullivan & Cromwell's Patrick S. Brown

    Patrick S. Brown, a partner in Sullivan & Cromwell LLP's general practice group, helped Zions Bancorp. become the first bank to ever check out of Dodd-Frank's "Hotel California," and he has guided several other West Coast bank transactions over the past year, earning him a place among Law360's 2018 Banking MVPs.

  • November 29, 2018

    MVP: Faegre's Andrea Roberts Pierson

    Andrea Roberts Pierson of Faegre Baker Daniels scored major defense victories this year for makers of implanted blood filters and knee replacements targeted in large-scale, multidistrict litigation, earning herself a place among Law360's 2018 Product Liability MVPs.

  • November 29, 2018

    MVP: Morgan Lewis' Grace E. Speights

    Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP partner Grace E. Speights, who is defending PBS against Tavis Smiley's claim he was wrongfully fired after facing sexual harassment allegations, has emerged as a go-to legal adviser for high-profile employers looking to evaluate their workplaces and navigate issues related to the #MeToo movement, earning her a spot among Law360's Employment MVPs.

  • November 29, 2018

    MVP: Akin Gump's Ira Dizengoff

    Bankruptcy deal-maker Ira Dizengoff of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP reorganized tens of billions of dollars this year, including an arrangement that fended off unemployment for 4,500 people working at bankrupt power plants, efforts that landed him among Law360's 2018 Bankruptcy MVPs.

  • November 29, 2018

    MVP: Labaton Sucharow's Jordan Thomas

    Labaton Sucharow LLP partner Jordan Thomas made history this year when he led Merrill Lynch whistleblowers to win damages of over $83 million — the largest ever award since the beginning of the SEC's Whistleblower program in 2011 — in a landmark enforcement action, landing him a spot among Law360's 2018 Securities MVPs.

  • November 29, 2018

    MVP: Paul Hastings' Yar Chaikovsky

    Yar Chaikovsky, the global co-chair of Paul Hastings LLP's intellectual property practice, scored a patent victory at the Federal Circuit last December for Yahoo and Twitter after a long-running multidistrict litigation battle with an Acacia Research Corp. subsidy, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2018 Appellate MVPs.

  • November 29, 2018

    MVP: Davis Polk's Will Pearce

    Will Pearce of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP steered billion-dollar international deals over the past year, including Comcast's £26 billion ($34 billion) cash offer for Sky PLC, which beat out a competing offer from stakeholder 21st Century Fox, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2018 Mergers & Acquisitions MVPs.

  • November 28, 2018

    MVP: Jones Day's Robert C. Lee

    Robert C. Lee, co-chair of Jones Day's global real estate practice, helped guide the Greystar Real Estate Partners-led $4.4 billion transaction for a publicly traded real estate investment trust, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2018 Real Estate MVPs.

  • November 28, 2018

    MVP: Paul Weiss' Susanna M. Buergel

    Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP partner Susanna M. Buergel helped lead a successful defense to conclusion this year for an unusual shareholder derivative suit against Citigroup officers that could have cost the bank billions of dollars in damages, making her one of Law360's 2018 Banking MVPs.

  • November 28, 2018

    MVP: Davis Polk's Neil Barr

    Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP partner Neil Barr scored victories in high-profile cases this year, acting as the lead tax counsel for Comcast as the company offered £25.9 billion for Sky PLC and advising Comcast and NBCUniversal on the sale of the Weather Group, the parent company of the Weather Channel, earning him a spot among Law360's 2018 Tax MVPs.

  • November 28, 2018

    MVP: Jenner & Block's Jessica Ring Amunson

    Jessica Ring Amunson, co-chair of Jenner & Block LLP's appellate and Supreme Court practice and chair of the firm's election law and redistricting practice, successfully argued in the U.S. Supreme Court case Class v. U.S., persuading the justices to rule that criminal defendants can challenge the constitutionality of laws they already pled guilty to breaking if they didn't explicitly waive the right to do so, earning her a spot as one of Law360's 2018 Appellate MVPs.

  • November 28, 2018

    MVP: O'Melveny's John Rapisardi

    O'Melveny & Myers LLP attorney John Rapisardi spent the last year guiding Puerto Rico's government through the island's mind-numbingly complex $120 billion restructuring, and in the process he clarified the Commonwealth's rights in regard to the federally appointed Oversight Board, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2018 Bankruptcy MVPs.

  • November 28, 2018

    MVP: Jones Day's Gregory Castanias

    Jones Day's Gregory Castanias has ticked off major wins this year at the U.S. Supreme Court and the Federal Circuit in cases tackling important issues in patent law, from America Invents Act reviews to privity, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2018 Intellectual Property MVPs.

  • November 28, 2018

    MVP: Gibson Dunn's Mark Perry

    Mark Perry of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP achieved what he calls one of the hallmarks of his career this past year with the precedent-setting U.S. Supreme Court win in a case about how the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission selects its administrative law judges, earning him a spot among Law360's 2018 Securities MVPs.

  • November 28, 2018

    MVP: Davis Polk's Oliver Smith

    Oliver Smith, a corporate partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, recently led a team of attorneys advising Aetna Inc. in a $69 billion deal to be sold to CVS Health Corp., landing him a spot among Law360's 2018 Mergers and Acquisitions MVPs.

  • November 28, 2018

    MVP: Seyfarth's Jerry Maatman

    Seyfarth Shaw LLP partner Jerry Maatman helped Jimmy John's escape massive wage-and-hour litigation by proving the company isn't responsible for its individual franchisees and separately got a 70,000-member class arbitration cut down to 250 people, earning him a spot among Law360's 2018 Employment MVPs. 

  • November 28, 2018

    MVP: Covington's Paul Schmidt

    Paul Schmidt of Covington & Burling LLP has had a big year, stamping out thousands of suits against Accutane maker Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. with a major win in the New Jersey Supreme Court and racking up multiple trial wins in other pharmaceutical cases, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2018 Product Liability MVPs.