Expert Guides - Best of the Best USA

Best of the Best USA 2017 Methodology

Welcome to the 2017 edition of the Best of the Best USA, a guide to the top legal practitioners in the US across 16 areas of law.

16/05/2017

Don’t Forget About Mediation: Settlement and Satisfaction

Mediation in trademark disputes is increasingly common. The International Trademark Association (INTA) reports that mediation settlement rates for intellectual property disputes may be as high as 70%. INTA, the World Intellectual Property Association (WIPO), and the European Union Intellectual...

31/03/2017 Katherine M Basile, Reed Smith, US

Recent US International Tax Developments

The outgoing Obama Administration issued an unusual number of lengthy tax regulations just before and after year end

31/03/2017 David L Forst, Fenwick & West, US James P Fuller, Fenwick & West, US

US Entity Transactions Bump Against the Inversion Rules in Unanticipated Ways

The US “domestic entity acquisition” (“DEA,” aka “inversion”) rules must be considered whenever any stock or options of a foreign acquiring corporation (“FA”) are issued in a transaction with a US corporation or partnership (“USco”) to former USco equity holders

31/03/2017 Peter H Blessing, KPMG, US

The United States: No Longer a Shangri-La for Plaintiffs’ Lawyers

Historically, plaintiffs’ lawyers around the world have viewed the United States as the most plaintiff-friendly jurisdiction, and sought to file their cases in U.S. courts even when the underlying parties and facts have much stronger ties to other countries

31/03/2017 Robert J Giuffra Jr, Sullivan & Cromwell, US Matthew A Schwartz, Sullivan & Cromwell, US Julia A Malkina, Sullivan & Cromwell, US

American Wage and Hour Litigation: Compliance, Experts, and the Certification Process

The American wage and hour litigation wave continues, and the essential areas of focus for corporate employers in successfully defending these actions is increasingly centering on a “back to basics” approach

30/03/2017 William C Martucci, Shook Hardy & Bacon, US Kristen A Page, Shook Hardy & Bacon, US

Recent Trends in Alternative Funds

The past year has been mixed for alternative funds. In the hedge fund space, industry assets under management increased by $70 billion to $3.22 trillion, despite lackluster overall returns and noisy withdrawals by certain institutional investors

30/03/2017 Stephanie R Breslow, Schulte Roth & Zabel, US Patrick Dundas, Schulte Roth & Zabel, US

Effective Tax Planning in the Post-BEPS Era

Transfer pricing issues have become a significant political issue as the G-20 nations focus on ways to combat double non-taxation

24/06/2016 Michael F Patton, DLA Piper, US

The Key BEPS Action Items Causing Discussion In the United States

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's (the “OECD”) Base Erosion Profit Shifting (“BEPS”) Proposals have been moving forward at a rapid pace

24/06/2016 Marc M Levey, Baker McKenzie, US

Non-Negligent Breach of Warranty in Massachusetts is not a c. 93A Violation

In Massachusetts, product liability actions typically assert claims of both negligence and breach of warranty and normally contain a count under chapter 93A, Massachusetts’s consumer protection statute

24/06/2016 James M Campbell, Campbell Campbell Edwards & Conroy, US Jacob J Lantry, Campbell Campbell Edwards & Conroy, US

The Use of Broadest Reasonable Interpretation in Inter Partes Review – Evolution of the Law

The U.S. Supreme Court, in Cuozzo Speed Technologies v. Lee,2 is considering the propriety of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (“PTO”) rule that, during inter partes review (“IPR”), patent claims receive their “broadest reasonable interpretation” (“BRI”)

24/06/2016 Nicholas P Groombridge, Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison, US Conor McDonough, Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison, US

Influence from the Top: Federal Circuit’s Influence on Post-Grant Review Trial Practice

The America Invents Act has significantly changed the patent litigation landscape in the U.S. It created the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) and three new principal post-grant review mechanisms: PGR, IPR, and CBMR (“PTAB Trials”)

24/06/2016 Kenneth R (Ken) Adamo, Kirkland & Ellis, US Eugene Goryunov, Kirkland & Ellis, US

Texas Liquids Pipeline Regulation in Flux

Texans have been known to tout that “everything is bigger in Texas.” When it comes to oil, the facts are supportive

24/06/2016 Charles F Caldwell, Caldwell Boudreaux Lefler, US

Battle Against the Forms: Stating the Case for Attorney Preparation and Review of Critical Construction Documents

In the earliest weeks of law school, eager counselors-to-be absorb a wide variety of legal principles that are used as a foundation for their training to be lawyers

24/06/2016 Edward B Gentilcore, Sherrard German & Kelly, US

U.S. Agencies Continue to Be Tough on Merger Remedies

On April 6, 2016, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s comments regarding the U.S. Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) decision to file a lawsuit to block the $35 billion Halliburton/Baker Hughes merger highlighted the agency’s views towards divestitures generally

24/06/2016 Ilene Knable Gotts, Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz, US

Incomplete trademark policing can lead to a perilous result

The legal obligation of policing a mark is what a trademark owner likes least. After all, a trademark owner undertakes considerable costs in developing a mark, advertising and promoting it so that the mark has commercial success for the goods and/or services with which it is used. When a mark...

29/05/2015 Robert B G Horowitz, Baker Hostetler, US

Changing Landscape in US Telecommunications Regulation

At this writing, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission is entering a transition period marked by the departure of Julius Genachowski after four years as Chairman, and the nomination of venture capitalist and former trade association head Thomas Wheeler as his replacement, subject to Senate...

29/05/2015 Andrew D Lipman, Morgan Lewis & Bockius, US

Corporate inversions: Recent developments

Corporate inversions are the hottest topic in US tax law. In a typical inversion, a US acquiring company combines with a smaller foreign target beneath a new foreign parent. An inversion is generally motivated at least in part by the acquirer's desire to save taxes.

29/05/2015 Michael L Schler, Cravath Swaine & Moore, US Christopher K Fargo, Cravath Swaine & Moore, US

“The Future for Shipping – From Where Will the Money Come?”

Shipping finance has long been the preserve of specialists in the field operating in an environment where market participants all knew each other; where knowledge was evenly shared by those participants and where the faces rarely changed. Moreover, the shipping industry itself was shrouded in...

29/05/2015 Lawrence Rutkowski, Seward & Kissel, US

Update on foreign investment in US real property

Investment in US real property by non US investors has been significant for several decades, and is expanding dramatically in dollar value and the countries of the major investors. Investors from new venues, such as China and Russia, have joined investors from traditional venues, such as Europe and...

29/05/2015 Andrew J Weiner, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, US

The "new normal" yields way to the next M&A boom

Since the onset of the Financial Crisis we have been told not to expect a return to the pre-Lehman Bankruptcy days that had provided a constant flow of transactional corporate activity. Rather, the legal community was to downsize and forever look back on the "good 'ole days" of M&A, IPOs and other...

29/05/2015 Frank Aquila, Sullivan & Cromwell, US

Breaking down barriers in policyholder- insurer disputes over counsel selection and payment

Corporate policyholders/insureds who have been sued share a common interest with their liability insurers–successfully defending those lawsuits. Yet insureds and insurers often disagree on the choice of defense counsel and how much the insurer must pay toward legal bills. These disputes are costly...

01/06/2014 Michael M Marick, Hinshaw & Culbertson, US

Essential risk shifting provisions in construction documents

Shifting or limiting certain risks in construction contracts is nothing new. Owners and contractors have sought to incorporate contract protections that best suit their respective interests. Risk shifting is even more important today because project funding is often limited and owners seek to...

30/04/2014 H James Wulfsberg, Burke, Williams & Sorensen, US Stephen L Cali, Burke, Williams & Sorensen, US David J Hyndman, Burke, Williams & Sorensen, US

Parallel revolutions in energy

The massive growth over the past decade in oil and natural gas production from shale formations across the United States has generated significant, increasing development of formations that were previously not well known, such as the Bakken, Denver-Julesburg, Eagle Ford, Marcellus, and Utica, and...

29/04/2014 Charles F Caldwell, Caldwell Boudreaux Lefler, US Michelle T Boudreaux, Caldwell Boudreaux Lefler, US

The OECD BEPS action plan: what it means for multinationals now

On July 19 2013, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs (CFA) of the OECD published its action plan to address base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS). The action plan follows from directives given to the CFA by the G20 group of countries to better address global corporate taxation and builds upon the...

28/04/2014 Michael F Patton, DLA Piper, US

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