Latham Named Law Firm Corporate Practice of the Year by the American Lawyer
The American Lawyer (AmLaw) named Latham & Watkins the 2022 Law Firm Corporate Practice of the Year at the publication’s annual Industry Awards. AmLaw selected Latham as the best among seven leading law firm finalists. The awards honor “those lawyers, business professionals, law firms, and organizations that are elevating the profession to new heights” and “shine a light on the best of the best—those firms that clients should call with their critical corporate work.”
In a feature article, AmLaw said: “Latham & Watkins’ evolution into a corporate leviathan was a deliberate, drawn-out path built on scope and scale, strong talent acquisition and the ability to work on matters for clients small and large in a variety of capacities. That investment culminated, over the second half of 2020 and through 2021, in perhaps one of the greatest runs a Big Law corporate department has ever seen.”
Latham was a finalist in four of AmLaw’s corporate practice categories, the most of any law firm, including:
- General/Overall achievement across a firm’s transactional work
- Energy and Technology/Telecommunications sector categories
- Corporate Attorney of the Year, which featured Bay Area Office Managing Partner Tad Freese as a finalist
“We are so proud of our global team and the tremendous work that went into the achievements recognized by this award,” said Charles Ruck, Global Chair of Latham’s Corporate Department. “We share this award with our visionary clients who inspire our work. Helping them achieve their goals is our greatest privilege and honor.”
Latham advised on many market-defining transactions to earn the award, including: multi-billion technology M&A deals such as AMD’s US$35 billion acquisition of Xilinx and Slack’s US$27.7 billion acquisition by Salesforce; landmark capital markets deals such as Rivian Automotive’s US$11.9 billion IPO, the largest IPO of 2021, and Warby Parker’s direct listing; and transformative transactions across industries such as Siemens Healthineers’ US$16.4 billion acquisition of Varian Medical in life sciences, Realty Income’s US$50 billion merger with VEREIT in real estate, and the US$2.3 billion Vineyard Wind project financing in alternative energy.
In addition, Latham was a finalist in two categories that reflect the firm’s values of building an inclusive and supportive culture and giving back to the communities in which we live and work.