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 25, 2014

    Media & Entertainment MVP: Gibson Dunn's Orin Snyder

    As the litigator whom Facebook Inc.'s and Twitter Inc.'s founders go to when they need to defend their stakes in major ventures, Gibson Dunn’s Orin Snyder leads the pack where media and technology converge, earning him a spot on Law360's list of Media & Entertainment MVPs.

  • November 25, 2014

    Product Liability MVP: Kaye Scholer's Pamela Yates

    Kaye Scholer LLP partner Pamela Yates helped discredit the testimony of a key plaintiffs’ expert in multidistrict litigation alleging Pfizer Inc.’s Zoloft antidepressant causes birth defects and convinced a jury that Philip Morris USA Inc. wasn’t at fault for the death of a longtime smoker, earning her place among Law360’s Product Liability MVPs.

  • November 25, 2014

    Tax MVP: Skadden's David Polster

    Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP's David Polster found himself at the forefront of the year's cutting-edge real estate investment trust spinoff arrangements, resolving the tax prongs of multi-billion-dollar deals in sectors ranging from telecommunications to gaming and landing among Law360's Tax MVPs.

  • November 25, 2014

    IP MVP: WilmerHale's Bill Lee

    WilmerHale's Bill Lee secured $410 million in damages for Apple Inc. in two separate patent trials against arch rival Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and got a $368 million infringement verdict against Apple set aside in another case, earning a spot among Law360's Intellectual Property MVPs for the fourth straight year.

  • November 25, 2014

    M&A MVP: Weil Gotshal's Keith Flaum

    Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP partner Keith Flaum is a regular fixture in the technology transactional space, guiding such blockbuster deals as Facebook Inc.'s $16 billion buy of WhatsApp Inc. and Oracle Corp.'s $5.3 billion acquisition of Micros Systems Inc., earning him a spot on Law360’s list of M&A MVPs.

  • November 25, 2014

    Securities MVP: Fenwick & West's Susan Muck

    From winning a Ninth Circuit opinion that will give public companies peace of mind when disclosing an internal investigation to striking a settlement with shareholders of a snack-food giant that left almost everyone satisfied, Susan Muck of Fenwick & West LLP has earned her spot among Law360’s Securities MVPs.

  • November 25, 2014

    Health Care MVP: Akin Gump's Stephanie Webster

    Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP’s Stephanie A. Webster led hospitals to victory this year at the D.C. Circuit in a major challenge to Medicare reimbursement policies, one of several high-profile court fights that landed her a place among Law360’s Health Care MVPs.

  • November 25, 2014

    International Trade MVP: Wiley Rein's Timothy Brightbill

    By helping to secure a U.S. Department of Commerce decision imposing duties on Chinese solar panel manufacturers and persuading the World Trade Organization to rule against that country’s restrictions on rare earth exports, Wiley Rein LLP partner Timothy Brightbill has landed among Law360’s International Trade MVPs.

  • November 24, 2014

    IP MVP: Morrison & Foerster's Rachel Krevans

    Rachel Krevans of Morrison & Foerster LLP played a key role in securing jury verdicts of more than $1 billion for Apple Inc. in its patent wars with Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and nabbed victories in other cases before the Federal Circuit, landing a spot among Law360’s Intellectual Property MVPs.

  • November 24, 2014

    Product Liability MVP: Covington & Burling's Paul Schmidt

    Covington & Burling LLP partner Paul Schmidt spent a busy year racking up trial and appellate wins for Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. in lawsuits over the alleged risks of gastrointestinal injury tied to the acne drug Accutane, earning him a spot among Law360's Product Liability MVPs.

  • November 24, 2014

    Class Action MVP: Bernstein Litowitz's David R. Stickney

    By coaxing big recoveries out of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley through protracted battles for buyers of mortgage-backed securities despite little precedent, and bringing in one of the highest recoveries from an auditor firm in the wake of the Lehman Brothers collapse with a $99 million settlement against Ernst & Young LLP, David R. Stickney of Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP has earned his spot on Law360’s list of 2014 Class Action MVPs.

  • November 24, 2014

    Media MVP: Greenberg Glusker's Pierce O'Donnell

    Less than a month after joining Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger LLP in April, Pierce O’Donnell was at the center of the media world’s biggest legal battle, eventually winning court approval for the Los Angeles Clippers’ record $2 billion sale, landing a spot among Law360’s Media & Entertainment MVPs.

  • November 24, 2014

    Securities MVP: Fish & Richardson's Thomas Melsheimer

    Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban knows all about winning on the basketball court and in the investing world, but when it came to winning against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last year, he turned to Fish & Richardson PC’s Thomas Melsheimer, whose expert handling of Cuban’s trial landed him among Law360’s Securities MVPs.

  • November 24, 2014

    M&A MVPs: Kirkland's William Sorabella & David Feirstein

    Kirkland & Ellis LLP partners William Sorabella and David Feirstein proved their deal-making prowess and creativity in several high-stakes transactions over the past year, including in a joint effort on Burger King Worldwide Inc.'s head-turning megamerger that cemented their spot on Law360's list of M&A MVPs.

  • November 24, 2014

    Tax MVP: Davis Polk's Michael Mollerus

    Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP partner Michael Mollerus’ involvement in one of the most headline-grabbing and controversial deals in memory, Shire PLC’s ultimately canceled $55 billion bid to merge with British rival Abbvie Inc., was just part of a successful year that earned him a spot on Law 360’s list of Tax MVPs.

  • November 24, 2014

    Health Care MVP: King & Spalding's Phyllis Sumner

    King & Spalding LLP’s Phyllis B. Sumner has recently helped nursing home pharmacy Omnicare Inc. battle unusual False Claims Act suits brought by a Medicare Part D plan, and she's come away with victories that should assist the defense bar in future cases, scoring her a spot among Law360's Health Care MVPs.

  • November 21, 2014

    Securities MVP: Paul Weiss' Brad Karp

    Taking Citigroup Inc. over the finish line in its effort to overturn U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff's controversial 2011 decision to reject a deal with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was just one in a string of victories Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP chair Brad S. Karp achieved this year for the top-shelf client, earning him a spot on Law360’s list of 2014 Securities MVPs.

  • November 21, 2014

    Product Liability MVP: Jones Day's Stephanie Parker

    Jones Day's Stephanie Parker has been R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.’s go-to attorney since she began trying cases for it 15 years ago, and as its lead defense counsel, she has helped it win cases even in the post-Engle litigation landscape, including the first federal dispute involving a living smoker, landing her among Law360’s Product Liability MVPs.

  • November 21, 2014

    Media & Entertainment MVP: Covington's Doug Gibson

    Covington & Burling LLP partner Doug Gibson’s name appears on many high-profile sports industry deals, including this summer’s negotiation of former Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer’s $2 billion purchase of the Los Angeles Clippers and the National Football League’s extension on DirecTV’s rights for NFL Sunday Ticket, landing him a spot on Law360’s list of Media & Entertainment MVPs.

  • November 21, 2014

    M&A MVP: Davis Polk's David Caplan

    A resurgence in corporate deal-making kept Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP’s David Caplan busy this year as a number of longtime clients tapped him for various billion-dollar deals — including the year’s third-largest tie-up — landing him a spot on Law360's list of M&A MVPs.

  • November 21, 2014

    Class Action MVP: Grant & Eisenhofer's Stuart Grant

    Securing multiple settlements of more than $100 million for institutional shareholders that challenged mergers and other corporate governance decisions, Stuart Grant of Grant & Eisenhofer PA earned a spot on Law360’s list of Class Action MVPs.

  • November 21, 2014

    Tax MVP: Proskauer's Leslie Loffman

    Proskauer Rose LLP partner Leslie Loffman was the tax expert that American Realty Capital Properties Inc. turned to when it sealed its storied $11.2 billion acquisition of Cole Real Estate Investments, but multi-billion-dollar real estate investment trust deals are nothing new for Loffman, whose expertise landed him on Law 360's Tax MVP list.

  • November 21, 2014

    IP MVP: Paul Weiss' Nicholas Groombridge

    Veteran intellectual property litigator Nicholas Groombridge of Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP has many wins under his belt, but a recent $1.1 billion settlement between Edwards Lifesciences AG and Medtronic Inc. ending a lengthy patent war is among the victories that have helped to earn him a spot on Law360’s list of Intellectual Property MVPs.

  • November 21, 2014

    Health Care MVP: Gibson Dunn's Geoff Sigler

    Guiding health insurance giant Aetna Inc. to court victories over coverage disputes and helping the insurance industry block a Georgia law penalizing health plan administrators for not promptly paying claims has helped earn Gibson Dunn partner Geoff Sigler a spot on Law360's list of Health Care MVPs.

  • November 20, 2014

    Product Liability MVP: Sidley Austin's Sherry Knutson

    Drawing on her knack for simplifying complicated science and regulatory jargon, Sherry Knutson of Sidley Austin LLP helped Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. escape liability in the first jury trial among thousands of Illinois lawsuits blaming the company’s diabetes drug Actos for causing bladder cancer, earning her a spot among Law360’s Product Liability MVPs.