IFLR1000 is delighted to announce the shortlist for the second annual IFLR1000 United States Awards. 

The IFLR1000 United States Awards reflect months of research into the country's legal market and showcases the best performers and the most impactful transactions of 2020, along with the teams behind them. The awards aim to recognise and celebrate exceptional performance by law firms, teams and individual lawyers, across the spectrum of corporate finance disciplines. Deals are shortlisted for their market impact, legal innovation, size and complexity. The awards strive to reveal those deals that set new market precedents, defined new legal frameworks or introduced new tools and instruments. All shortlisted transactions fully closed during 2020.The criteria and methodology for IFLR1000 awards can be viewed here. 

Winners will be announced on September 21, 2021 at a virtual ceremony available online. Please register for the awards winners’ announcement here. 

For more details about the ceremony and coverage of the shortlist and winners, please contact Liam Sharkey: lsharkey@iflr1000.com

Deals of the Year

Banking

7-Eleven $15.95 billion financing

• Davis Polk & Wardwell

Amazon.com $7 billion revolving credit facility

• Cravath Swaine & Moore

Apollo $4.87 billion ABL credit facilities

• Latham & Watkins

Castlelake $180 million EETC

• Milbank
• Vedder Price

Elanco $5 billion financing

• Milbank
• Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison

Marriott $6 billion refinancing

• Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer
• Gibson Dunn & Crutcher

MRI Software unitranche financings

• Latham & Watkins

Capital markets: debt

Alphabet $5.25 billion sustainability bond issue

• Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
• Davis Polk & Wardwell

Avis Budget Rental Car Funding ABS

• Kirkland & Ellis
• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

Figure Technologies $150 million securitization

• Dentons
• Hunton Andrews Kurth

Freddie Mac s $765 million Multifamily real estate securitization

• Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft
• Dechert

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings NYSE secondary shrae offering

• Davis Polk & Wardwell
• Kirkland & Ellis

Oracle $20 billion six-tranche bond issue

• Davis Polk & Wardwell
• McCarthy Tetrault
• Osler Hoskin & Harcourt
• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

Sotheby’s $1 billion art loan receivable securitization

• Ropes & Gray
• Sidley Austin

United Airlines MileagePlus high-yield bond issue

• Kirkland & Ellis
• Mayer Brown
• Milbank

Capital markets: equity

Airbnb Nasdaq IPO

• Latham & Watkins
• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

Asana NYSE direct listing

• Cooley
• Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe

Palantir Technologies NYSE direct listing

• Cravath Swaine & Moore
• Davis Polk & Wardwell
• Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Pershing Square Tontine Holdings NYSE SPAC IPO

• Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft
• Ropes & Gray
• Sullivan & Cromwell

PG&E NYSE triple-tranche equity offering

• Cravath Swaine & Moore

T-Mobile Nasdaq secondary equity offering

• Cravath Swaine & Moore
• Davis Polk & Wardwell
• Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson
• Sullivan & Cromwell

Unity Technologies NYSE IPO

• Cooley
• Sullivan & Cromwell

XP Nasdaq secondary equity offering

• Davis Polk & Wardwell
• Lefosse
• Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom

M&A

Bristol Myers Squibb $13.1 billion acquisition of MyoKardia

• Goodwin Procter
• Kirkland & Ellis

Centene Corporation $17.3 billion acquisition of WellCare Health Plans

• Kirkland & Ellis
• Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom

Charles Schwab $26 billion acquisition of TD Ameritrade

• Cravath Swaine & Moore
• Davis Polk & Wardwell
• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

Cypress Semiconductor/Infineon Technologies merger

• Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
• Kirkland & Ellis
• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

Danaher Corporation $21.4 billion acquisition of GE biopharma business

• Clifford Chance
• Kirkland & Ellis
• Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison

Gardner Denver/Ingersoll-Rand industrial segment merger

• Davis Polk & Wardwell
• Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison
• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
• Sullivan & Cromwell

Mylan/Upjohn merger

• Cravath Swaine & Moore
• Davis Polk & Wardwell
• Willkie Farr & Gallagher

Teladoc Health $18.5 billion acquisition of Livongo Health

• Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom

Private equity

Apollo Global Management $6 billion acquisition of Tech Data Corporation

• Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
• Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison

Carlyle Global Partners investment in American Express Global Business Travel

• Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
• Debevoise & Plimpton
• Dechert

Clayton Dubilier & Rice $4.7 billion acquisition of Epicor

• Debevoise & Plimpton
• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

Digital Colony Partners/EQT Infrastructure IV Fund $14.3 billion acquisition of Zayo Group Holdings

• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

Insight Partners $5 billion acquisition of Veeam Software

• Ropes & Gray
• Willkie Farr & Gallagher

Silverlake Partners Permira/Spectrum Energy $4.7 billion acquisition of Ancestry

• Dechert
• Latham & Watkins
• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

Stone Point Capital and Further Global Capital Management $4.2 billion acquisition of Duff & Phelps

• Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

TSG Consumer Partners acquisition of majority stake in Pathway

• Debevoise & Plimpton
• Ropes & Gray

Project finance

8minute Solar Energy 18GW solar and storage projects S$225 million financing

• Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft
• King & Spalding

Brightline Miami-Orlando railway financing

• Mayer Brown
• Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom

Capital Dynamics battery energy storage $167 million financing

• Amis Patel Brewer
• Norton Rose Fulbright

Gilcrease Expressway West PPP $260 million financing

• Hawkins Delafield & Wood
• Kutak Rock
• Mayer Brown

Highlander Solar 485MW solar power plant

• Milbank
• Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton

LS Power 490MW California battery storage projects $300 million financing

• Latham & Watkins

The Geysers geothermal power plant $1.1 billion financing

• Latham & Watkins
• White & Case

Restructuring and insolvency

Acosta restructuring

• Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer
• Davis Polk & Wardwell
• Debevoise & Plimpton
• Freshfields Bruckhouse Deringer
• Kirkland & Ellis
• Klehr Harrison Harvey Branzburg
• Latham & Watkins
• Linklaters
• Sullivan & Cromwell
• Troutman Pepper
• White & Case
• Whiteford Taylor & Preston

Extraction Oil & Gas restructuring

• Bracewell
• Cole Schotz
• Kirkland & Ellis
• Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison
• Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan
• Stroock Stroock & Lavan
• Whiteford Taylor & Preston

Macy's restructuring

• Kirkland & Ellis
• Mayer Brown

McDermott International restructuring

• Alfaro Ferrer y Ramirez
• Appleby
• Arias Fábrega & Fábrega
• Arthur Cox
• Baker Botts
• Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow
• Bennett Jones
• Bracewell
• Brown Rudnick
• Carey Olsen
• Clarke Gittens Farmer
• Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
• CMS
• Conyers Dill & Pearman
• Cornejo Méndez González y Duarte
• Creel García-Cuéllar Aiza y Enriquez
• Davis Polk & Wardell
• DLA Piper
• Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
• Ganado Advocates
• Haynes and Boone
• Holland & Knight
• Howley Law
• Jackson Walker
• Jones Day
• King & Spalding
• Kirkland & Ellis
• König Rebholz Zechberger
• Latham & Watkins
• Law Office of Mohanned bin Saud Al-Rasheed in association with Baker Botts
• Linklaters
• Locke Lord
• Mattos Filho Veiga Filho Marrey Jr e Quiroga Advogados
• Mayer Brown
• McInnes Cooper
• NautaDutilh
• Ogier
• Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison
• Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
• Porter Hedges
• Rapp & Krock
• Tauil & Chequer
• Walkers Group
• Weil Gotshal & Manges
• White & Case
• Wikborg Rein
• Wong & Partners

Murray Energy restructuring

• Davis Polk & Wardwell
• Kirkland & Ellis
• Morrison & Foerster
• Richards Layton & Finger

Neiman Marcus restructuring

• Cravath Swaine & Moore
• Hogan Lovells
• Kirkland & Ellis
• Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison

Noble Corporation restructuring

• Porter Hedges
• Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom

Windstream Holdings restructuring

• Davis Polk & Wardwell
• Kirkland & Ellis
• Milbank
• Morrison & Foerster
• Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison
• Shearman & Sterling
• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
• Weil Gotshal & Manges
• White & Case 

Firms of the Year

Arizona

• Ballard Spahr
• Engelman Berger
• Polsinelli
• Quarles & Brady
• Snell & Wilmer

California

• Davis Polk & Wardwell
• Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
• Kirkland & Ellis
• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
• Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom

Colorado

• Ballard Spahr
• Dorsey & Whitney
• Hall Estill
• Holland & Hart
• Husch Blackwell

Connecticut

• Day Pitney
• Finn Dixon & Herling
• Holland & Knight
• Murtha Cullina
• Wiggin & Dana

Delaware

• Cole Schotz
• Morris Nichols Arsht & Tunnell
• Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones
• Reed Smith
• Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom

District of Columbia

• Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
• Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer
• Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
• Hogan Lovells
• McDermott Will & Emery
• Morgan Lewis & Bockius

Florida

• Akerman
• Duane Morris
• Greenberg Traurig
• McDermott Will & Emery
• Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough
• Stearns Weaver Miller

Georgia

• Alston & Bird
• Dentons
• Greenberg Traurig
• King & Spalding
• Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough

Illinois

• Kirkland & Ellis
• Mayer Brown
• McDermott Will & Emery
• Sidley Austin
• Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom

Maryland

• Cole Shotz
• Duane Morris
• Hogan Lovells
• Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough
• Venable

Massachusetts

• Dechert
• Foley Hoag
• Morgan Lewis & Bockius
• Ropes & Gray
• Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom

New Jersey

• Cole Schotz
• Lowenstein Sandler
• Morgan Lewis & Bockius
• Reed Smith
• Sills Cummis & Gross

New York

• Cravath Swaine & Moore
• Davis Polk & Wardwell
• Kirkland & Ellis
• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
• Weil Gotshal & Manges

Ohio

• Calfee Halter & Griswold
• Jones Day
• Taft Stettinius & Hollister
• Thompson Hine
• Tucker Ellis

Oklahoma

• Conner & Winters
• GableGotwals
• Hall Estill
• Hartzog Conger Cason
• McAfee & Taft

Pennsylvania

• Ballard Spahr
• Dechert
• Duane Morris
• Morgan Lewis & Bockius
• Reed Smith

Texas

• Baker Botts
• Bracewell
• Norton Rose Fulbright
• Vinson & Elkins
• White & Case

Lawyers of the Year

Banking

• Edmond Gabbay - Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer
• Tatiana Lapushchik - Cravath Swaine & Moore
• Vanessa Jackson - Davis Polk & Wardwell
• Jason Kyrwood - Davis Polk & Wardwell
• Janet Vance - Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
• Alfred Xue - Latham & Watkins
• Drew Fine - Milbank
• Lauren Hanrahan – Milbank

Capital markets: debt

• Mike Gambro - Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft
• Michael Mazzuchi - Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
• Michael Kaplan - Davis Polk & Wardwell
• Jeffrey O’Connor - Kirkland & Ellis
• Julie Gillespie - Mayer Brown
• Sean Solis - Milbank
• Patricia Lynch - Ropes & Gray
• Jim Stringfellow - Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom

Capital markets: equity

• Jeffrey Karpf - Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
• Jon Avina - Cooley
• Nicholas Dorsey - Cravath Swaine & Moore
• Richard Truesdell - Davis Polk & Wardwell
• Anna Pinedo - Mayer Brown
• Paul Tropp - Ropes & Gray
• Sarah Payne - Sullivan & Cromwell
• Alexander Lynch - Weil Gotshal & Manges

M&A

• Sarah Jones - Clifford Chance
• Ting Chen - Cravath Swaine & Moore
• Daniel Brass - Davis Polk & Wardwell
• Daniel Wolf - Kirkland & Ellis
• Paul Scrivano - Ropes & Gray
• Ravi Purushotham - Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
• Nathan Giesselman - Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
• Michael Aiello - Weil Gotshal & Manges

Private equity

• Jennifer Chu - Debevoise & Plimpton
• Michael Hardy - Duane Morris
• Barbara Becker - Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
• Peter Statch - Kirkland & Ellis
• David Lieberman - Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
• Kenneth Wolff - Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
• Doug Warner - Weil Gotshal & Manges
• Morgan Elwyn - Willkie Farr & Gallagher

Project finance

• Brandon Dalling - King & Spalding
• Kelann Stirling - Kirkland & Ellis
• Warren Lilien - Latham & Watkins
• Stephanie Wagner - Mayer Brown
• Allan Marks - Milbank
• Keith Martin - Norton Rose Fulbright
• Julia Czarniak - Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
• Gary Kashar - White & Case

Restructuring and insolvency

• Mark Dendinger - Bracewell
• Robert Stark - Brown Rudnick
• George Zobitz - Cravath Swaine & Moore
• Damian Schaible - Davis Polk & Wardell
• David Simonds - Hogan Lovells
• Josh Sussberg - Kirkland & Ellis
• Adam Paul - Mayer Brown
• Kevin Hroblak - Whiteford Taylor & Preston

Teams of the Year

Banking

• Cravath Swaine & Moore
• Davis Polk & Wardwell
• Latham & Watkins
• Milbank
• Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison
• Shearman & Sterling
• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
• Weil Gotshal & Manges

Capital markets: debt

• Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft
• Cahill Gordon & Reindel
• Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
• Davis Polk & Wardwell
• Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
• Kirkland & Ellis
• Mayer Brown
• Morgan Lewis & Bockius

Capital markets: equity

• Cooley
• Cravath Swaine & Moore
• Davis Polk & Wardwell
• Kirkland & Ellis
• Mayer Brown
• Ropes & Gray
• Sullivan & Cromwell
• Weil Gotshal & Manges

M&A

• Cravath Swaine & Moore
• Davis Polk & Wardwell
• Goodwin Procter
• Kirkland & Ellis
• Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison
• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
• Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
• Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz

Private equity

• Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
• Debevoise & Plimpton
• Dechert
• Duane Morris
• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
• Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
• Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz
• Willkie Farr & Gallagher

Project finance

• Cravath Swaine & Moore
• Davis Polk & Wardwell
• King & Spalding
• Kirkland & Ellis
• Latham & Watkins
• Mayer Brown
• Milbank
• White & Case

Restructuring and insolvency

• Brown Rudnick
• Cravath Swaine & Moore
• Davis Polk & Wardwell
• Kirkland & Ellis
• Mayer Brown
• Morrison & Foerster
• Stroock Stroock & Lavan
• Whiteford Taylor & Preston