The Firm was recognized in the Financial Times’ 2013 U.S. Innovative Lawyers Report, which honors U.S. law firms that consistently create innovative solutions to solve business problems for their clients. Overall, Simpson Thacher ranked eighth out of 40 law firms on this year’s list of most innovative U.S. firms.
The Firm was highly commended in the Corporate & Commercial category for advising Smithfield in its strategic combination with Shuanghui International. Robert Spatt, Patrick Naughton, Peter Thomas and others advised the company on the transaction and subsequent regulatory concerns. Mr. Spatt was quoted in a related article on the implications of the deal, stating “When you have a Chinese company coming into the U.S., there’s often potential political and regulatory issues and heightened sensitivity. To have a Chinese company buy a $7bn company in a small town in Virginia is culturally impactful. There will be Chinese flags displayed in Smithfield, a small town very much part of rural America. China and the U.S. as nations obviously evolve their global political relationship, but with this paradigm successfully completed on a business and human level, it gives you a new way of looking at a deal and gives Chinese companies a base to work from.”
The Firm’s work on the sale of Clearwire Corporation to Sprint Nextel was also recognized in the Corporate & Commercial category. Robert Spatt, Marni Lerner and others represented the Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Clearwire on the deal. In the Finance category, the Firm was highly commended for advising Blackstone on its unique Tactical Opportunities investment platform, which makes each large institutional investor the sole limited partner of each fund vehicle (along with a traditional commingled fund). Michael Wolitzer and Peter Gilman led the Simpson Thacher team advising Blackstone.
Simpson Thacher was highly commended in the Business of Law category for the Firm’s development of a new intellectual property technology application that evaluates litigation matters and provides data metrics to offer clients a more accurate IP risk assessment. Jeff Ostrow and Joshua Walker are leading the Firm’s efforts on this application. The FT rated the Firm’s work on a financing for Tesla Motors as highly commended in the Lawyers to the Innovators category. A team led by Kevin Kennedy and Roxane Reardon advised the underwriters on Tesla’s successful $1 billion financing, which was used to pay off its Department of Energy loan.
The U.S. Innovative Lawyers Report is a collaboration between the Financial Times, a premier global publication covering international business and politics, and RSG Consulting.