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.
  • October 24, 2024

    MVP: Cleary's Roger Cooper

    Roger Cooper of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP's securities and mergers and acquisitions litigation practice led a team of Cleary attorneys to a New York state appellate victory on first impression arguments the firm has been making for a decade, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Securities MVPs.

  • October 24, 2024

    MVP: Debevoise & Plimpton's David Bernstein

    David Bernstein of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP helped a beverage mogul avoid a Texas jury, beat the government on behalf of the Snapchat brand and tries to find ways to sprinkle a little bit of "magic" into his career as a trademark litigator, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Intellectual Property MVPs.

  • October 24, 2024

    MVP: Skadden's Steve Sunshine

    Steve Sunshine, global head of antitrust at Skadden, led a team representing Activision Blizzard through its $69 billion acquisition by Microsoft and secured the dismissal of major antitrust claims for Apple, earning him a spot among the 2024 Law360 MVPs.

  • October 23, 2024

    MVP: Kirkland's Dale Cendali

    Dale Cendali of Kirkland & Ellis LLP's intellectual property practice won a precedent-setting trial on realistically depicting celebrities, preserved a soft drink giant's branding and protected a defense contractor's use of mission-critical software, earning her a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Intellectual Property MVPs.

  • October 23, 2024

    MVP: Sullivan & Cromwell's Robert J. Giuffra Jr.

    Robert Giuffra Jr. of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP helped shepherd Goldman Sachs through 13 years of investor litigation that ended in a victory for his client last year when the Second Circuit applied a new U.S. Supreme Court standard for the first time, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Securities MVPs.

  • October 23, 2024

    MVP: Wachtell's Karessa L. Cain

    Karessa Cain of Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz successfully led Hess Corp. through federal antitrust scrutiny amid Chevron's ongoing $53 billion acquisition and represented eBay Inc. in a complex, cross-border transaction to take a Norwegian classifieds business private, earning her a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Mergers & Acquisitions MVPs.

  • October 23, 2024

    MVP: Weil's Michael Moiseyev

    Michael Moiseyev of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP has helped tech behemoth Microsoft navigate a gauntlet of regulators across different countries and knock out antitrust challenges to large transactions, including its buy of Activision Blizzard, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Competition and Antitrust MVPs.

  • October 23, 2024

    MVP: Williams & Connolly's Joseph G. Petrosinelli

    Joseph G. Petrosinelli led Williams & Connolly LLP teams in successfully defending major U.S. corporate clients, including Pfizer, Gerber and Google, from large class claims often spilling across multiple state and federal courts, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Product Liability MVPs.

  • October 23, 2024

    MVP: Sullivan & Cromwell's Eric Wang

    Sullivan & Cromwell's S. Eric Wang advised clients on the tax law implications of major deals over the past year, including a transaction that created the largest gas utility company in North America, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 2024 Tax MVPs.

  • October 23, 2024

    MVP: Dechert's Jonathan R. Streeter

    Jonathan R. Streeter, co-chair of Dechert LLP's global litigation practice, guided Icahn Enterprises LP in the navigation of a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation and related civil litigation, and also represented Energy Harbor through a corruption investigation that was followed by a successful sale of the company earlier this year. Streeter's efforts in these matters, among others, earned him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 White Collar MVPs.

  • October 23, 2024

    MVPs: Wachtell's Adam Emmerich & Robin Panovka

    Adam Emmerich and Robin Panovka of Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz's real estate practice group guided Spirit Realty Capital Inc. in its $9.3 billion all-stock acquisition by Realty Income Corp., one of a string of multibillion-dollar acquisitions that earned the practice group leaders a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Real Estate MVPs.

  • October 22, 2024

    MVP: E. Danya Perry of Perry Law

    E. Danya Perry represented former President Donald Trump's former personal attorney Micahel Cohen in a trio of cases, including Trump's criminal trial in which Cohen was a star witness, and started her own law firm. Those and other events from the past year landed her a spot among Law360's 2024 White Collar MVPs.

  • October 22, 2024

    MVP: Latham's Justin Hamill

    Justin Hamill leads the Latham & Watkins LLP team representing Endeavor Group Holdings Inc. in its $13 billion take-private acquisition by private equity firm Silver Lake, and is also advising Skydance Media in its multibillion-dollar merger with Paramount Global, putting him among the 2024 Law360 Mergers & Acquisitions MVPs.

  • October 22, 2024

    MVP: Reichman Jorgensen's Reichman And Lehman

    Courtland Reichman and Christine Lehman of Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg LLP won a $525 million patent infringement trial against Amazon and secured an $84 million verdict in another patent infringement case against tech giant VMware in the span of a year, earning them a spot as 2024 Law360 Intellectual Property MVPs.

  • October 22, 2024

    MVP: Proskauer Rose's Christopher Ondeck

    Christopher Ondeck of Proskauer Rose LLP helped convince a jury to reject claims that Sanderson Farms conspired to limit chicken production, allowing the company to escape $7 billion in potential damages after scoring key pretrial wins in the massive case, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Competition MVPs.

  • October 22, 2024

    MVP: Jones Day's Charles 'Chuck' Hodges

    Chuck Hodges, a tax partner with Jones Day, led a gravel company to victory in May at the U.S. Tax Court in a case regarding an $11.1 million sale of a freeway pit, helping him earn a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Tax MVPs.

  • October 22, 2024

    MVP: Bernstein Litowitz's Jeroen van Kwawegen

    Jeroen van Kwawegen, head of Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP's corporate governance practice, convinced a Delaware court to nullify Elon Musk's $55 billion Tesla compensation package and secured a historic $1 billion settlement for Wells Fargo investors, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Securities MVPs.

  • October 22, 2024

    MVP: Keller Rohrback's Gretchen Freeman Cappio

    Keller Rohrback LLP partner Gretchen Freeman Cappio helped consumers reach a $150 million deal over claims that Chevrolet Bolt cars made by General Motors LLC and LG units had battery defects that led to overheating and fires, earning her a spot as one of the Law360 2024 Product Liability MVPs.

  • October 21, 2024

    MVP: Simpson Thacher's Craig S. Waldman

    Craig Waldman of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP helped secure a ruling of first impression on behalf of Bumble Inc. that enabled the company to fight off an investor suit challenging its unique voting structure, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Securities MVPs.

  • October 21, 2024

    MVP: Paul Weiss' Brian Krause

    Brian Krause of Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP's tax practice designed a novel tax approach for the merger of World Wrestling Entertainment and Ultimate Fighting Championship, raced to create a tax-free deal in the final days of a Texas "wildcatter" hoping to sell his oil company, and advised Chevron in its $60 billion acquisition of Hess Corp., earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Tax MVPs.

  • October 21, 2024

    MVP: Steptoe's Brian Heberlig

    Steptoe LLP's Brian Heberlig got a British tech billionaire and former CEO acquitted of federal securities fraud charges involving billions of dollars, and pushed through profound personal tragedy to serve his clients' needs, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 White Collar MVPs.

  • October 21, 2024

    MVP: Seeger Weiss' Chris Seeger

    Founding partner Chris Seeger of Seeger Weiss LLP helped win favorable outcomes in three high-profile mass tort cases, including a $6 billion global settlement to end sprawling litigation over allegedly defective 3M combat earplugs, earning him a spot among the 2024 Law360 Product Liability MVPs.

  • October 21, 2024

    MVP: Goodwin's Joshua Zachariah

    Joshua Zachariah of Goodwin Procter LLP's mergers and acquisitions practice led the team that advised Qualtrics in its $12.5 billion sale to private equity giant Silver Lake and is guiding Novo Holdings on its $16.5 billion merger agreement with Catalent, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 M&A MVPs.

  • October 21, 2024

    MVP: Brooks Kushman's Christopher Smith

    Brooks Kushman PC shareholder Christopher Smith has won a series of Patent Trial and Appeal Board proceedings for Ford Motor Co. and helped the automaker cut a $105 million jury verdict down to $3, earning him a spot as one of Law360's 2024 Intellectual Property MVPs.

  • October 21, 2024

    MVP: Latham's Amanda Reeves

    Latham & Watkins LLP's Amanda Reeves successfully defended a merger of major sugar manufacturers at the Third Circuit, navigated multibillion-dollar pharmaceutical deals through Federal Trade Commission scrutiny, and geared up for a significant FTC transaction challenge, carving out a spot as one of the Law360 2024 Competition MVPs.