Nine Latham Partners Named 2026 MVPs

Nine Latham & Watkins partners were named 2026 MVPs of the Year by Law360, among the most of any law firm this year. The annual selection of leading lawyers across the industry recognizes honorees who “stand out from their peers by notching significant achievements in high-stakes litigation, complex global matters and record-setting transactions.”

The 2026 Latham Law360 MVPs are:

David Beller: Private Equity — David advises private equity sponsors, portfolio companies, and strategic acquirors on complex corporate transactions, with a particular focus on significant leveraged buyouts, carve-outs, and sophisticated M&A. He led the Latham team advising Macquarie Asset Management on its approximately US$40 billion sale of Aligned Data Centers, one of the largest private digital infrastructure transactions to-date, advised Blackstone on its investment in Anthropic’s Series H financing, and Clario and the investor consortium led by Astorg and Nordic Capital on the US$8.875 billion sale of Clario to Thermo Fisher Scientific, the largest full healthcare private equity exit announced globally in 2025.

Matthew Brill and Elizabeth Park: Telecommunications — Matthew, a former senior FCC senior official, and Elizabeth represent leading communications companies in their most complex regulatory, transactional, and litigation matters. They jointly advised Cox Enterprises in the US$34.5 billion combination of Cox Communications with Charter Communications, and led regulatory matters for Paramount Skydance in its US$110 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, the largest all-cash deal in corporate history.

Andy Clubok: Technology — The Global Chair of Latham’s Securities and M&A Litigation Practice, Andy is a premier trial lawyer for complex, bet-the-company disputes, representing some of the world’s leading technology companies. He led the Latham team that secured a unanimous Ninth Circuit affirmance of the dismissal of claims against Meta and three of its senior officers in one of the largest securities class actions ever filed, and won complete dismissal with prejudice of a precedent-setting securities class action against Docusign in litigation accusing the company of misleading investors about demand for its products. This marks Andy’s third Law360 MVP honor, following prior recognition as a Securities and Trial MVP.

Byron Rooney: Capital Markets — The Global Vice Chair of Latham’s Capital Markets Practice, Byron advises on complex, first-of-their-kind, and multijurisdictional transactions, including in cutting-edge sectors such as aerospace and defense and fintech and digital assets. He led the team representing the underwriters in SpaceX’s US$75 billion IPO, the largest IPO in history, and advised the joint book-running managers and representatives of the several initial purchasers in SpaceX’s US$25 billion inaugural senior notes offering, the largest-ever inaugural investment grade notes offering.

Charles Ruck: M&A — Charles combines elite public company M&A and board-level governance experience to advise on several of the most consequential cross-border and domestic M&A transactions in the market while serving as Global Chair of Latham’s Corporate Department. Charles leads the Latham team advising Anglo American on its approximately US$70 billion merger of equals with Teck Resources to form a global critical minerals company, advised FIS on two concurrent transformational deals, including FIS’ US$24.2 billion sale of Worldpay to Global Payments and US$13.5 billion acquisition of Global Payments’ Issuer Solutions business, and represented CyberArk in its US$25 billion take-private acquisition by Palo Alto Networks.

Janice Schneider and Stacey VanBelleghem: Environmental — Stacey, Global Co-Chair of Latham’s Environment, Land & Resources Practice, and Janice, the Practice’s former Global Co-Chair, guide clients through the complexities of federal environmental law and the permitting of major infrastructure projects. They led the Latham team that secured three preliminary injunctions against federal stop-work orders halting offshore wind projects, and won summary judgment upholding federal approvals another project, marking the first time a court has sustained the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s National Historic Preservation Act compliance on the merits in an offshore wind case.

Hilary Strong: Real Estate — The Global Vice Chair of Latham’s Real Estate Practice, Hilary advises on high-stakes real estate transactions, including REIT matters, across data centers, healthcare and life sciences, senior housing, and logistics. She co-led the Latham corporate and real estate team advising Meta in its US$27 billion joint venture with funds managed by Blue Owl Capital to finance the Hyperion data center campus in Louisiana, and led the Latham team advising Healthpeak Properties in connection with its US$2.1 billion strategic joint venture with a private equity investor involving 86 outpatient medical buildings across the United States.