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Rankings: Rising Stars

Law360’s Rising Stars profiles the top legal talent under 40. The winners are comprised of top litigators and dealmakers practicing at a level usually seen from veteran attorneys. Submissions highlight the winner’s age and reasons why his or her record deserves attention.
  • August 21, 2025

    Rising Star: Clifford Chance's Neil Barlow

    Clifford Chance LLP partner Neil Barlow has helped lead the growth of the firm's U.S. private equity practice while advising on high-profile cross-border deals, including KKR and Carlyle's $10.1 billion acquisition of a student loan portfolio and the sale of global fund administrator Alter Domus, earning him a spot among the private equity law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • August 20, 2025

    Rising Star: Latham's Daniel Williams

    Latham & Watkins LLP partner Daniel Williams has steered several multibillion-dollar deals, including SRS' $18.25 billion acquisition by Home Depot and Cogentrix Energy's $3 billion sale to Quantum Capital Group, earning him a spot among the private equity law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • August 19, 2025

    Rising Star: Davis Polk's Nikolaus Caro

    Nikolaus Caro of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP is advising Sycamore Partners in its take-private acquisition of Walgreens Boots Alliance, earning him a spot among the private equity practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • August 18, 2025

    Rising Star: Freshfields Eva Mak

    Eva Mak of Freshfields LLP has several multibillion-dollar deals under her belt, including a $16.5 billion take-private acquisition of cloud computing company Citrix Systems Inc., earning her a spot among the private equity law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • August 15, 2025

    Rising Star: Weil's Timothy Burns

    Timothy Burns of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP led the team representing Glencore, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and British Columbia Investment Management Corp. on their exit from Viterra through its $18 billion sale to Bunge, earning him a spot among the private equity practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • August 08, 2025

    Rising Star: Debevoise's Sheena Paul

    Sheena Paul is a Debevoise & Plimpton LLP partner in the firm's investment management group, where she focuses on regulatory and compliance matters and counsels private fund advisers — including leading Clayton Dubilier & Rice through a $26 billion fundraise — earning a spot among the fund formation law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • August 07, 2025

    Rising Star: Ropes & Gray's Rachel O'Brien

    Rachel O'Brien of Ropes & Gray LLP advised Hamilton Lane on its largest fundraise ever, closing with $5.6 billion in tow, and helped The Vistria Group LP clinch $3 billion in investor commitments for its largest-ever private equity fund — earning O'Brien a spot among the fund formation lawyers under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • August 06, 2025

    Rising Star: Kirkland's Suzannah Hacking

    Suzannah Hacking led the Kirkland & Ellis LLP team that advised private equity shop Berkshire Partners as it secured its largest fund ever, with $7.8 billion in investor commitments, earning her a spot among the fund formation attorneys under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • August 05, 2025

    Rising Star: Weil's Sarah Borden

    Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP's Sarah Borden has helped a Genstar Capital fund secure $12.6 billion and guided Crow Holdings with one of the biggest real estate private equity funds in recent years, landing her a spot among the fund formation law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • August 04, 2025

    Rising Star: Simpson Thacher's Jordan Cross

    Jordan Cross, a partner in Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP's funds formation practice group, has quickly made a name for himself by advising on significant transactions for some of the biggest players in the private equity world, including advising Blackstone and Silver Lake on their recent fund raises, earning him a spot among the fund formation law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • July 18, 2025

    Law360 Names 2025's Top Attorneys Under 40

    Law360 is pleased to announce the Rising Stars of 2025, our list of more than 150 attorneys under 40 whose legal accomplishments belie their age.

  • August 12, 2024

    Rising Star: Weil's Brian Parness

    Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP partner Brian Parness has earned the trust of private equity firms that required advice on huge transactions — as shown by TPG Inc.'s acquisition of Angelo Gordon, as well as TPG's own initial public offering — landing him a spot among private equity attorneys under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • August 09, 2024

    Rising Star: Davis Polk's Jack Orford

    Jack Orford of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP regularly acts as finance counsel to various private equity firms, including Brookfield Business Partners on its $13.2 billion acquisition of Johnson Controls' power solutions business, earning him a spot among the private equity law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • August 08, 2024

    Rising Star: Kirkland's Keri Schick Norton

    Keri Schick Norton of Kirkland & Ellis LLP regularly acts as lead counsel to some of the top private equity firms in the industry, such as Blackstone and Warburg Pincus, in their deal transactions, including helping Warburg Pincus in its $1.86 billion sale of Procare Solutions, earning her a spot among the private equity law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • August 07, 2024

    Rising Star: Debevoise & Plimpton's Ryan T. Rafferty

    Debevoise & Plimpton LLP partner Ryan T. Rafferty navigated $9 billion in debt financing for a private equity firm in the acquisition of Truist Insurance, and he steered Evergreen Coast Capital through a $16.5 billion take-private deal of a cloud computing company, earning him a spot among the private equity law practitioners under 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • August 06, 2024

    Rising Star: Skadden's George Gray

    Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP partner George Gray has used his expertise to navigate Markerstudy Group's $1.6 billion merger with an insurance brokering giant and to help private equity firm HgCapital LLP exit its investment in Argus Media, earning him a spot among private equity practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • August 05, 2024

    Rising Star: Dechert's Sam Whittaker

    Sam Whittaker of Dechert's work helping Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte. Ltd. coinvest in deals like the $17 billion acquisition of Athenahealth and the more than $15 billion take-private of media data giant Nielsen has kept a "cornerstone client" happy and made him one of the Law360 Rising Stars in private equity under age 40.

  • July 25, 2024

    Rising Star: Cooley's Matt Smith

    Matt Smith of Cooley LLP advised Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz as it raised $7.2 billion across five funds with differering strategies, including one focusing on companies supporting "American dynamism," earning him a spot among the fund formation attorneys under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • July 24, 2024

    Rising Star: Kirkland's Mark Boyagi

    Mark Boyagi is a partner in Kirkland & Ellis LLP's investment funds practice group and is a leader in the firm's liquidity solutions team, where he has advised on several transactions in global secondaries market volume, including advising Alpine Investors last year on a $3.4 billion single-asset continuation fund transaction, earning him a spot among the fund formation law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • July 23, 2024

    Rising Star: Davis Polk's Sijia Cai

    Sijia Cai led the Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP team that advised investment firm Rubicon Founders LLC on its roughly $1.2 billion second flagship private equity fund and was on the team that advised on a $2.5 billion Morgan Stanley secondaries fund, earning her a spot among the fund formation practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • July 22, 2024

    Rising Star: Goodwin's Lynette Elam

    Lynette Elam of Goodwin Procter LLP guided the $16.5 billion fundraise for private equity firm TA Associates on its TA XV fund, which the firm has identified as one of 2023's biggest private equity funds, in the latest chapter of her work with the longtime client. This accomplishment and others have arned her a place among the fund formation attorneys honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • July 19, 2024

    Rising Star: Latham's Oliver Prakash-Jenkins

    Oliver Prakash-Jenkins of Latham & Watkins LLP advised infrastructure investment manager American Triple I on its fundraise for the $4.2 billion development of a new terminal at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport, and in just the past month has seen two projects that both involved investments of over $1 billion close, earning him a place among the fund formation law practitioners under 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • July 12, 2024

    Law360 Names 2024's Top Attorneys Under 40

    Law360 is pleased to announce the Rising Stars of 2024, our list of 158 attorneys under 40 whose legal accomplishments belie their age.

  • August 01, 2023

    Rising Star: Morrison Foerster's Maureen Ho

    Maureen Ho of Morrison Foerster LLP has headed multibillion-dollar deals between a myriad of companies, including Alibaba's acquisition of a stake in Ant Financial, earning her a spot among the private equity law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 Rising Stars.

  • July 31, 2023

    Rising Star: Simpson Thacher's Michael Chao

    Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP partner Michael Chao has honed a reputation as a trusted counselor steering massive private-equity deals — as evidenced by the more-than-$30 billion acquisition of health care supplier Medline — earning him a spot among private equity attorneys under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.