Law360 has named McGuireWoods a “Banking Practice Group of the Year” for 2018 — one of only six firms to earn the prestigious honor. It marks the fourth time Law360 recognized the firm as a Practice Group of the Year, with past honors for the firm’s automotive, government investigations and white collar litigation, and sports practices.
McGuireWoods earned the banking recognition for advising national banks in multibillion-dollar financings and deals, winning high-stakes appeals and representing financial institutions in other matters. For example, the firm advised Park Sterling Corp. — the largest community bank headquartered in the Charlotte, North Carolina, banking hub — in a $691 million stock-for-stock merger with South State Corp. The November 2017 deal was the fifth that McGuireWoods’ community banking team handled for Park Sterling.
The firm represents a range of financial services institutions, including the top 10 U.S. banks ranked by assets, fintech companies, broker-dealers and others. McGuireWoods has one of the largest debt finance practices in the United States with more than 90 lawyers, and a deep bench of more than 200 financial services litigators.
“It is an honor when independent authorities such as Law360 recognize our lawyers’ efforts to help banking clients grow and defend their businesses,” said government investigations and financial services litigator Susan Rodriguez, who co-leads McGuireWoods’ financial institutions industry team with partner Rick Viola. “We are grateful for the trust our clients place in us.”
“We have assembled a team of lawyers who work together across practices and offices in the U.S. and London to deliver innovative solutions to address our clients’ complex matters. We couldn’t be prouder of our lawyers’ hard work and commitment to achieving our clients’ business goals,” said Viola, who focuses his practice on securities, capital markets and corporate transactions.
“It is deeply gratifying to partner with our many longstanding banking and financial services clients to address evolving challenges in financial markets and across industries,” said Raj Natarajan, chair of McGuireWoods’ Debt Finance Department.
McGuireWoods was named 2019’s “Law Firm of the Year” for banking and finance law in U.S. News-Best Lawyers’ “Best Law Firms.” BTI Consulting Group honored McGuireWoods for finance and securities litigation work in its 2019 Litigation Outlook. And McGuireWoods earned a nationwide ranking in Chambers and Partners’ “2019 Fintech Guide” — the definitive guide to leading lawyers — underscoring the firm’s representation of prominent financial technology companies.
In syndicated debt financings, McGuireWoods consistently ranks among the top five U.S. law firms by deal count and among the top 10 by dollar volume in Thomson Reuters league tables.