McGuireWoods was recognized as a leading law firm in 41 nationwide practice areas in the Legal 500 United States, the respected independent guide to the country’s top firms and lawyers.
The 2024 rankings highlight McGuireWoods’ litigation and transactional strength across industries and practice areas, including energy; banking and finance; M&A and private equity; healthcare; commercial litigation; corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense; product liability defense; labor and employment; data protection and privacy; and transportation.
The firm earned Tier 1 nationwide rankings in two practice categories: M&A: Middle Market and Transport: Rail and Road – Litigation and Regulation.
Clients quoted by the Legal 500 praised McGuireWoods for its broad-based capabilities, industry knowledge and commitment to excellence.
“In my experience, McGuireWoods is masterful at getting to know and understand their clients’ needs,” an education client said. “The practice takes a very comprehensive approach in gaining all applicable knowledge and information. The attorneys are extremely knowledgeable about the law and are fantastic advocates for their clients.”
A healthcare client called the firm’s lawyers “extremely professional” and adept at helping clients “achieve their goals while guiding them through the regulatory and legal hurdles that are important in any healthcare transaction.”
McGuireWoods earned rankings in the following nationwide practice areas.
- Antitrust: cartel
- Antitrust – civil litigation and class actions: defense
- Capital markets: debt offerings
- Commercial lending: advice to lenders
- Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense: advice to corporates
- Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense: advice to individuals
- Cyber law (including data protection and privacy)
- Education
- Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: design
- Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: transactional
- Energy litigation: electric power
- Energy litigation: oil and gas
- Energy regulation: electric power
- Energy: renewable/alternative power
- Energy transactions: electric power
- Energy transactions: oil and gas
- Environment: litigation
- Environment: regulatory
- Environment: transactional
- Fintech
- General commercial disputes
- Healthcare: service providers
- Insurance: advice to policyholders
- Intellectual property – trade secrets
- Labor and employment – disputes (including collective action): defense
- Leading trial lawyers
- M&A/corporate commercial – private equity buyouts
- M&A: middle-market (sub-$500 million)
- Media, technology and telecoms: transactions
- Media, technology and telecoms: technology outsourcing
- Product liability, mass tort and class action – defense: automotive/transport
- Product liability, mass tort and class action – defense: consumer products
- Product liability, mass tort and class action – defense: pharmaceuticals and medical devices
- Product liability, mass tort and class action – defense: toxic tort
- Project finance: energy and power
- Real estate finance
- Tax: not-for-profit (nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations)
- Tax: U.S. taxes – noncontentious
- Transport: aviation and air travel – finance
- Transport: rail and road – litigation and regulation
- Transport: shipping – litigation and regulation
McGuireWoods lawyers were recognized throughout the guide, with 13 singled out as “Leading Lawyers” in their practice areas.
- Heather Welch Arbogast, energy transactions: electric power
- Eric Bilik, transport: rail and road – litigation
- Anthony Carna, energy transactions: oil and gas
- Taylor French, employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: design
- Shelby Guilbert, Insurance: advice to policyholders
- Joanne Katsantonis, energy transactions: electric power
- Brian Kelly, energy transactions: electric power
- Ava Lias-Booker, leading trial lawyers
- John Padgett, transport: shipping – litigation and regulation
- Deepak Reddy, aviation and air travel – finance
- Noel Symons, energy regulation: electric power
- Samuel Tarry, product liability, mass tort and class action – defense: automotive/transport
- Michael Woodard, M&A: middle market.
In addition, Allison Tanner (employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: design) and Natalie Zagari (transport: rail and road – litigation) were singled out as “Next Generation Partners,” a designation reserved for younger partners “who make a material difference to the practice.” Associates Miles Indest (intellectual property: trade secrets – litigation and noncontentious matters) and Molleigh Thomas (energy transactions: oil and gas) were named “Rising Stars.”
The Legal 500 recognized individual McGuireWoods lawyers in the following categories.
Antitrust – cartel
Amy Manning, Angelo Russo and Sarah Zielinski of Chicago; Brent Justus of Richmond
Antitrust – civil litigation/class actions: defense
Amy Manning, Angelo Russo and Sarah Zielinski of Chicago; Brent Justus of Richmond
Capital markets – debt offerings
Greg Kilpatrick and Barlow Mann of Charlotte; Hannah Thompson Frank of Pittsburgh
Commercial lending
Gerum Yilma of Atlanta; Kevin McGinnis of Charlotte; Donald Ensing of Chicago; Alan Holliday of London; Peter Butcher and Penny Zacharias of Pittsburgh
Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
Jason Cowley of Charlotte; Noreen Kelly of New York; John Adams of Richmond; Louis Greenstein, John Moran and Benjamin O’Neil of Washington, D.C.
Cyber law (including data protection and privacy)
Anne Peterson of New York; Janet Peyton of Richmond; Alicia Baiardo of San Francisco; Andrew Konia of Tysons
Education
Peter Farley and Shelby Guilbert of Atlanta; Sarah Wake of Chicago; Michele McKinnon and Heidi Siegmund of Richmond; Farnaz Thompson of D.C.
Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: design
Gerald V. Thomas II of Atlanta; Taylor French and Allison Tanner of Charlotte; Katie Rak and Carolyn Trenda of Chicago
Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: transactional
Gerald V. Thomas II of Atlanta; Taylor French and Allison Tanner of Charlotte; Katie Rak and Carolyn Trenda of Chicago; Robert Wynne of Richmond
Energy litigation: electric power
Bernard L. McNamee of Richmond; Julia English, Katlyn Davis Farrell, Todd Mullins and Noel Symons of D.C.
Energy litigation: oil and gas
Jonathan Blank and Brian Jackson of Charlottesville; Anthony Carna and Greg Krock of Pittsburgh
Energy regulation: electric power
Julia English, Katlyn Davis Farrell, Todd Mullins and Noel Symons of D.C.
Energy: renewable/alternative power
Timothy Callahan of Chicago; Jay Hughes and Durham McCormick of Houston; D. Brennen Keene and Michael Woodard of Richmond; Evelyn Kim of San Francisco
Energy transactions: electric power
Heather Welch Arbogast and Brian Kelly of Baltimore; Edmund Daniels of Houston; Joanne Katsantonis and Emilie McNally of Richmond
Energy transactions: oil and gas
Jay Hughes of Houston; Anthony Carna and Molleigh Thomas of Pittsburgh
Environment: litigation
Adam Sowatzka of Atlanta; David Franchina of Charlotte; Gregory Hinojosa Evans of Los Angeles; Benjamin Hatch of Norfolk; Eugene Mathews III of Richmond; Makram Jaber of D.C.
Environment: regulatory
Adam Sowatzka of Atlanta; David Franchina of Charlotte; Makram Jaber of D.C.
Environment: transactional
Adam Sowatzka of Atlanta; David Franchina of Charlotte; Heather Nixon Stevenson of Richmond; Makram Jaber of D.C.
Fintech
Molly White of Century City, California; Ashley Matthews of Charlottesville; Sarah Zielinski of Chicago;
General commercial disputes
Cheryl Haas of Atlanta; Robert Muckenfuss of Charlotte; Jonathan Blank of Charlottesville; Mark Kinghorn of Chicago; Jeremiah Anderson and Yasser Madriz of Houston; Noreen Kelly of New York; Benjamin Hatch of Norfolk
Healthcare: service providers
Kayla McCann Marty and Bart Walker of Charlotte; Scott Becker, Holly Buckley and Amanda Roenius of Chicago
Insurance: advice to policyholders
Joseph Englert, Shelby Guilbert, Nicholas Hill and Anthony Tatum of Atlanta; Stephen Foresta of New York; Candace Ali Blydenburgh and Scott Oostdyk of Richmond
Intellectual property: trade secrets (litigation and noncontentious matters)
Sabrina A. Beldner of Century City; Miles Indest, Meghaan Madriz and Yasser Madriz of Houston; David Finkelson, Dana Rust and Heidi Siegmund of Richmond; David Greenspan of Tysons; Wolfgang McGavran of D.C.
Labor and employment disputes
Sabrina A. Beldner of Century City; Sarah Wake of Chicago; Christopher Michalik of Richmond
Leading trial lawyers
Ava Lias-Booker of Baltimore
M&A/corporate commercial – private equity buyouts
Geoffrey Cockrell and Gregory Hawver of Chicago; Jon Finger of Dallas; Tom Zahn of Pittsburgh
M&A: middle-market (sub-$500 million)
Chris Scheurer of Charlotte; David Hornyak, Scott Westwood and Tom Zahn of Pittsburgh; Brian Hager, Joanne Katsantonis, Patrick De Ridder and Michael Woodard of Richmond
Media, technology and telecoms: technology transactions
James Anderson of Richmond
Product liability, mass tort and class actions – automotive/transport – defense
Benjamin Hatch of Norfolk; Justin Howard, Perry Miles IV and Virginia Bondurant Price of Richmond; Samuel Tarry of Tysons
Product liability, mass tort and class actions – consumer products – defense
James Neale of Charlottesville; Benjamin Hatch of Norfolk; Justin Howard and Trent Taylor of Richmond; Samuel Tarry of Tysons
Product liability, mass tort and class action – defense: pharmaceuticals and medical devices
Nicholas Hoffman of Los Angeles; Benjamin Hatch of Norfolk; Mark Anderson of Raleigh; Candace Ali Blydenburgh, Justin Howard and Davis Walsh of Richmond; Samuel Tarry of Tysons
Product liability, mass tort and class actions – toxic tort – defense
Adam Sowatzka of Atlanta; Gregory Hinojosa Evans of Los Angeles; Benjamin Hatch of Norfolk; Justin Howard and Eugene Mathews III of Richmond; Samuel Tarry of Tysons
Project finance
Brian Kelly of Baltimore; Timothy Callahan of Chicago; Durham McCormick of Houston; D. Brennen Keene and Doug Lamb of Richmond
Real estate finance
William Seligman and Alice Youngbar of Century City; Dennis Mensi and Craig Harmon of New York
Tax: not-for-profit (nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations)
Gerald V. Thomas II of Atlanta; Jean Gordon Carter of Raleigh; Michele McKinnon and Alec Sauble of Richmond
Tax: U.S. taxes – noncontentious
Gerald V. Thomas II of Atlanta; Sabrina Conyers of Charlotte; Durham McCormick of Houston; Craig Bell of Richmond
Transport: aviation and air travel – finance
Patricia Hosmer and David Whelpley Jr. of Charlotte; Deepak Reddy of New York; Peter Szurley of San Francisco
Transport: rail and road – litigation and regulation
Eric Bilik, Christopher Thanner and Sean Walsh of Jacksonville; Bryan Brantley and Natalie Zagari of Pittsburgh
Transport: shipping – litigation and regulation
John Padgett of Norfolk; Bryan Brantley of Pittsburgh