McGuireWoods was recognized as a leading law firm in 27 practice areas in The Legal 500 United States, the firm’s strongest showing to date in the respected, independent guide to leading firms and lawyers. The rankings are a testament to the firm’s formidable transactional and litigation capabilities across industries and practice areas, including energy; M&A and private equity; banking and finance; healthcare; white-collar criminal defense; commercial litigation; technology; and transportation.
In addition, McGuireWoods lawyers were recognized 87 times in this year’s guide. John Padgett, managing partner of the firm’s Norfolk, Virginia, office, was singled out as a “Leading Lawyer” in Transport: Shipping for the second year in a row. Charlotte partner Rakesh Gopalan was named a “next generation lawyer” in Technology: Transactions, an honor awarded to rising stars in each practice area.
McGuireWoods earned Tier 1 rankings — the highest — in two transportation categories: shipping regulation and rail and road litigation. It was ranked in six energy-related categories, receiving high marks for its transactional, litigation and regulatory work for leading energy and utilities clients.
The Legal 500 commended the firm for its M&A and private equity deal work, saying McGuireWoods “has further cemented its presence in middle-market private equity, particularly in the healthcare food and beverage and energy industries. In the independent sponsor sub-sector, the firm has an especially strong standing.”
McGuireWoods is the first law firm to implement a nationwide program to connect independent sponsors with potential capital providers for specific private equity transactions. The firm will host its second annual national conference for independent sponsors and capital providers in Dallas in October.
McGuireWoods earned rankings in the following nationwide practice areas:
- Antitrust: civil litigation and class actions
- Commercial lending: advice to lenders
- Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
- Cyber law (including data protection and privacy)
- Energy litigation: conventional power
- Energy litigation: oil and gas
- Energy regulatory: conventional power
- Energy renewable/alternative
- Energy transactions: conventional power
- Energy transactions: oil and gas
- Environment litigation
- General commercial disputes
- Healthcare: service providers
- Investment funds: private equity funds (including venture capital)
- M&A: middle-market (sub-$500 million)
- Private equity buyouts
- Product liability, mass tort and class action: automotive/transport
- Product liability, mass tort and class action: consumer products
- Product liability, mass tort and class action: toxic tort – defense
- Project finance: advice to lenders
- Project finance: advice to sponsors
- Sport
- Technology: outsourcing
- Technology: transactions
- Transport: aviation and air travel: finance
- Transport: rail and road
- Transport: shipping
In addition to the practice rankings, The Legal 500 recognized individual McGuireWoods lawyers in the following categories:
Antitrust: civil litigation and class actions
Amy Manning of Chicago; Howard Feller of Richmond; Jonathan Lewis of Washington, D.C.
Commercial lending: advice to lenders
Raj Natarajan of Charlotte; Wade Kennedy of Chicago
Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
Kenneth Bell of Charlotte; John Adams of Richmond; Todd Mullins of Washington
Cyber law (including data protection and privacy)
Michael Adams of Charlotte; Nathan Kottkamp of Richmond; Andrew Konia of Tysons
Energy litigation: conventional power
Joseph K. Reid III of Richmond; Todd Mullins and Noel Symons of Washington
Energy litigation: oil and gas
Jonathan Blank of Charlottesville; Richard Deutsch and Ronald Franklin of Houston; Gregory Evans of Los Angeles; Ryan Purpura of Pittsburgh
Energy regulatory: conventional power
Todd Mullins and Noel Symons of Washington
Energy renewable/alternative
Timothy Callahan of Chicago; Michael Woodard of Richmond
Energy transactions: conventional power
Brian Kelly and Cecil Martin III of Baltimore; Joanne Katsantonis of Richmond
Energy transactions: oil and gas
Ryan Purpura of Pittsburgh; Joanne Katsantonis of Richmond
Environment litigation
Diane Flannery, Eugene Mathews III and Scott Oostdyk of Richmond
General commercial disputes
Cheryl Haas of Atlanta; Issac deVyver of Pittsburgh; Bryan Fratkin of Richmond; David Reidy of San Francisco
Healthcare: service providers
Amber McGraw Walsh of Chicago
Investment funds: private equity funds (including venture capital)
Mark Kromkowski of Chicago; Kevin Boardman of Dallas
M&A: middle-market (sub-$500 million)
Chris Scheurer, David Whelpley Jr., and H. Ramsey White III of Charlotte; Geoffrey Cockrell of Chicago; Scott Westwood of Pittsburgh; James Anderson III and Joanne Katsantonis of Richmond
Private equity buyouts
Christopher Nesbit of Charlotte; Geoffrey Cockrell of Chicago; David McLean and Jon Finger of Dallas; Thomas Zahn of Pittsburgh
Product liability, mass tort and class action: automotive/transport
Diane Flannery, Perry Miles, Samuel Tarry and J. Tracy Walker IV of Richmond
Product liability, mass tort and class action: consumer products
Angela Spivey of Atlanta; Terrence Bagley, Diane Flannery, Perry Miles and Samuel Tarry of Richmond
Product liability, mass tort and class action: toxic tort – defense
John Henderson of Dallas; Stephen Busch and Diane Flannery of Richmond
Project finance
Brian Kelly of Baltimore; Adam Greene and Marvin Rogers of Charlotte; Timothy Callahan of Chicago; Matthew Kapinos of Houston; Joanne Katsantonis of Richmond
Sport
Richard Grant of Century City; Kevin McGinnis of Charlotte; Terrence Bagley of Richmond
Technology: outsourcing
Steve Gold and Derek Roach of Chicago
Technology: transactions
Rakesh Gopalan of Charlotte; Steve Gold and Derek Roach of Chicago
Transport: aviation and air travel: finance
Patricia Hosmer and David Whelpley Jr. of Charlotte; Peter Szurley of San Francisco; Gregory Walden of Washington
Transport: rail and road
Brian Jackson of Charlottesville; Eric Bilik and Scott Cairns of Jacksonville; Terrence Bagley, Mitchell Morris and J. Tracy Walker IV of Richmond
Transport: shipping
John Padgett of Norfolk.
The Legal 500 recommends law firms and individual lawyers in more than 100 countries based on feedback from 300,000 clients worldwide, interviews with leading private practice lawyers and independent research.