The Legal 500 Honors Fenwick Among the Leading U.S. Firms
Mountain View, CA (December 7, 2017) – Fenwick & West is pleased to announce that The Legal 500 has again recognized the firm as one of the top law firms in the United States, with 11 Fenwick practices listed as among the best in the country. The Legal 500 rankings focus on firms that “have a truly national presence coupled with the capability to handle sophisticated and complex work.”
This year, 41 Fenwick lawyers earned recognition in at least one category, including seven who are named "Leading Lawyers" and three “Next Generation Lawyers.” The guide also named three Fenwick partners to its Hall of Fame: corporate partner Gordon Davidson and tax partners David Forst and James Fuller. The Hall of Fame list honors individuals recognized by The Legal 500 as one of the “elite leading lawyers for six consecutive years.” These lawyers “received praise by their clients for continued excellence” and are “at the pinnacle of the profession.”
Fenwick again received the highest possible recognition from The Legal 500 in the venture capital and emerging companies category. The firm also ranked Tier 1 for technology transactions work. In addition, the Legal 500 honored more than 20 Fenwick lawyers and practice groups with new recognitions this year.
Corporate
The Legal 500 noted that Fenwick “stands out for industry-defining transactions for leading technology and life sciences companies,” and that the firm’s “overall level of service is extremely high and the firm’s industry knowledge, business acumen, response times and efficiency are highly appreciated.” The guide also noted that Fenwick’s team “advised on the three-largest gaming deals in history.” These included Supercell Oy’s $8.6 billion majority stake acquisition by Tencent, King Digital Entertainment’s $5.9 billion sale to Activision Blizzard and Shanghai Giant Network Technology’s $4.4 billion investor consortium agreement to acquire Playtika, Caesars Interactive Entertainment’s social and mobile games business.
Intellectual Property
The Legal 500 highlighted Fenwick’s intellectual property work, reporting that the firm’s patent licensing client roster “features many technology and life sciences innovators” and that the firm’s patent prosecution group “advises an impressive list of leading technology and life sciences clients,” including Airbnb, LG Display and Dropbox. The guide also noted that Fenwick is “particularly strong in copyright matters regarding new technologies.”
Tax
The firm’s tax practice also received recognition for international tax, tax litigation and non-contentious work. Of Fenwick’s international tax practice, the guide noted that Fenwick “has a very streamlined approach and unique insight into dealing with the IRS” when it comes to transfer pricing and tax controversies. The guide described the firm’s tax litigation team as “impressive,” and commended the “tremendous insight” Fenwick “brings to dealing with the IRS” in its non-contentious work.
Litigation
The Legal 500 also praised Fenwick’s litigation work. Clients told the guide that the firm has “credible and substantive knowledge of the technology and life sciences sectors and a deep understanding of clients’ needs.” The Legal 500 highlighted Fenwick’s representation of GoPro, “securing … the dismissal of state and federal shareholder litigation relating to its 2014 IPO.”
The complete list of Fenwick lawyers and practices recognized by The Legal 500 is as follows:
FINANCE
Capital markets: Equity offerings
Gordon Davidson
James Evans
Robert Freedman
Horace Nash
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Copyright
Andrew Bridges
Jennifer Stanley
Patents: portfolio management and licensing
David Hayes
Robert Hulse
Rajiv Patel
Patent prosecution: re-examination and post-grant
David Ahn
Robert Hulse
Stuart Meyer
Rajiv Patel
Antonia Sequeira
Jae Won Song
LITIGATION
Securities Litigation Defense
Michael Dicke
Jay Pomerantz
MEDIA, TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOMS
Technology: Transactions
Douglas Cogen
James Evans
Stephen Gillespie
Jake Handy (Leading Lawyer)
Cynthia Hess
Ralph Pais
Matthew Rossiter
Greg Roussel
Alan Smith
M&A: CORPORATE AND COMMERCIAL
Middle-market
Douglas Cogen (Leading Lawyer)
Stephen Gillespie
Stephen Graham
David Healy
David Johanson
Scott Joachim
Blake Martell
Ken Myers (Next Generation Lawyer)
Ralph Pais
Alan Smith
Greg Roussel
Lynda Twomey
Kris Withrow
Venture capital and emerging companies
Gordy Davidson (Hall of Fame, Leading Lawyer)
Kristine Di Bacco (Next Generation Lawyer)
Cynthia Hess (Leading Lawyer)
Mark Leahy
Ted Wang (Leading Lawyer)
TAX
International tax
James Fuller (Leading Lawyer)
Andrew Kim
Larissa Neumann (Next Generation Lawyer)
Tax contentious
Kenneth Clark
James Fuller
Andrew Kim
Ronald Schrotenboer
Tax non-contentious
David Forst (Hall of Fame, Leading Lawyer)
James Fuller (Hall of Fame, Leading Lawyer)
About Fenwick & West
Fenwick & West LLP provides comprehensive legal services to ground-breaking technology and life sciences companies – at every stage of their lifecycle – and the venture capital, private equity and strategic investors that partner with them. We craft innovative, cost-effective and practical solutions on issues ranging from venture capital, public offerings, joint ventures, M&A and strategic relationships, to intellectual property, litigation and dispute resolution, taxation, antitrust, and employment and labor law. For more than four decades, Fenwick has helped some of the world's most recognized companies become and remain market leaders. For more information, please visit fenwick.com.