Practice of law: best examples in legal work

Read the other FT Innovative Lawyers North America ‘Best practice case studies’, which showcase the standout innovations made for and by people working in the legal sector:

Business of law
In-house

Standout

Hogan Lovells: WINNER
Originality: 8; Leadership: 9; Impact: 10; Total: 27
The appellate practice helped persuade the US Supreme Court to reject a case brought by North Carolina’s Republican-controlled legislature, which was trying to limit state courts’ oversight of how state lawmakers draw election maps. In Moore vs Harper, the lawyers emphasised the non-partisan aspects, drawing on support from conservatives such as judge J Michael Luttig and referencing Articles of Confederation from the 18th century.

Separately, in Allen vs Milligan, the lawyers persuaded the US Supreme Court that Alabama’s redrawing of congressional districts violated the Voting Rights Act because black voters would be a majority in only one district out of seven although black residents comprise 27 per cent of Alabama’s population. Commended individuals: Jessica Ellsworth and Neal Katyal

Arnold & Porter
O: 8; L: 9; I: 9; Total: 26
After Gorgi Talevski received poor treatment in a nursing home, the firm represented his daughter Susie in a lawsuit. It persuaded the Supreme Court that the Federal Nursing Home Reform Act gave more than 85mn US citizens enrolled in federal spending programmes, particularly Medicaid, the right to sue the state if their rights were violated. The lawyers used historical congressional records to make their legal arguments, as well as contributions from experts and charities, as interested third parties, ultimately winning with a 7-2 ruling. Commended individual: Andrew Tutt

McDermott Will & Emery
O: 8; L: 9; I: 8; Total: 25
The firm won a unanimous 9-0 Supreme Court ruling in favour of transgender asylum seeker Estrella Santos-Zacaria who faced unreasonable bureaucratic challenges in applying for asylum. The firm argued against longstanding US immigration practices, convincing the Supreme Court that it was inefficient for immigration agencies to require that non-citizens exhaust all options within the agency before appealing their case in court. Commended individual: Paul Hughes

Highly commended

White & Case
O: 8; L: 8; I: 6; Total: 22
In October 2022, on behalf of charity Appleseed México, lawyers in the Mexico City office filed an amparo — a request for constitutional protection — with the Mexican Supreme Court. The move was to help migrants affected by the US Migrant Protection Protocols government programme — dubbed “Remain in Mexico” — brought in by the Trump administration to make asylum seekers await hearings south of the border. Usually, amparos protect an individual, but the lawyers argued that Appleseed México represented the collective rights of individuals affected by the rule. Remain in Mexico was overturned by the Biden administration but the amparo holds the Mexican government accountable for migrant treatment if it resumes.

Commended

Reed Smith
O: 6; L: 7; I: 7; Total: 20
At the request of legislators in Oklahoma, the firm undertook a pro bono independent investigation to support the appeal for Richard Glossip, a man on death row convicted of commissioning a murder in 1998. Their 18 months’ work unearthed new testimonials and documents more than 20 years old, which prompted the state government to launch a new investigation. In May, the Supreme Court voted to halt Glossip’s execution, scheduled for that month. The case has revealed flaws in the initial prosecution and has prompted fresh debate in the US about the death penalty.

Standout

Porzio, Bromberg & Newman: WINNER
Originality: 9; Leadership: 9; Impact: 8; Total: 26
In 2004, the firm created a subsidiary, Porzio Life Sciences, to provide companies with a database of compliance obligations across all 50 US states. The team now employs about 50 lawyers and analysts offering a range of subscription services, such as updates on US and international regulation and global transactions in the sector. The subsidiary was sold for an undisclosed sum to RLDatix, a healthcare tech company in 2022, but maintains links to the law firm, sharing staff and office space.

Schulte Roth & Zabel
O: 7; L: 9; I: 9; Total: 25
The firm advised activist investor Quentin Koffey and his hedge fund Politan Capital Management after medical tech company Masimo amended its bylaws to resist his attempt at election to its board. Politan threatened legal action over restriction of shareholder rights and was backed by the Managed Funds Association, a US hedge fund lobby, as an interested third party. Masimo withdrew its new bylaws, allowing two Politan nominees to be elected to Masimo’s board.

Hogan Lovells and Kirkland & Ellis
O: 7; L: 8; I: 9; Total: 24
Hogan Lovells and Kirkland & Ellis advised both businesses involved in UnitedHealth Group’s $8bn acquisition of Change Healthcare, defeating the US Department of Justice’s antitrust challenge in March 2023. The lawyers had to show that controls were in place to prevent UnitedHealth, one of the largest US health insurers, unfairly exploiting access to the customer data of the acquired insurance tech group.

Highly commended

Dechert
O: 7; L: 7; I: 8; Total: 22
The firm advised US drugmaker Eli Lilly in a patent dispute with Swiss rival Novartis, which was trying to protect the market for its blockbuster psoriasis drug, Cosentyx. Dechert lawyers embarked on a protracted dispute in an attempt to use a federal statute to bring discovery proceedings to the US — despite the dispute being brought in front of European antitrust authorities. Novartis and Eli Lilly reached a cashless settlement resolving the case last year.

Foley Hoag
O: 7; L: 8; I: 7; Total: 22
The firm created a reproductive health practice group in response to the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling on Dobbs vs Jackson, which overturned the constitutional right to abortion. It has advised clients, ranging from large healthcare insurance companies to charities, on the legal repercussions.

Morrison Foerster
O: 7; L: 8; I: 7; Total: 22
The firm played a leading role in the creation of the Abortion Defense Network, a coalition of law firms and non-profit organisations that provides free, confidential, and state-specific advice on access to reproductive rights. Since last year’s Supreme Court vote to overturn the constitutional right to abortion, seeking or providing access to termination can lead to jail, loss of licence, and heavy fines in some states. The network seeks to clarify confusion and educate individuals on their legal rights.

Ropes & Gray
O: 8; L: 7; I: 6; Total: 21
Chinese pharmaceutical company Hutchmed was advised by the firm on licensing its cancer drug fruquintinib to Japanese multinational Takeda Pharmaceutical for $400mn upfront and up to $730mn in further royalty payments.

Reed Smith
O: 7; L: 7; I: 7; Total: 21
In July 2023, the firm launched tech to track and provide updates on changing state and federal laws regarding the treatment of transgender and intersex people to healthcare providers. Last year, the firm launched a similar tracker to report updates on laws relating to abortion rights.

Commended

Goodwin
O: 7; L: 7; I: 6; Total: 20
The firm advised Nimbus Therapeutics on its sale of a subsidiary, Nimbus Lakshmi, to multinational pharmaceutical company Takeda for $4bn in 2022. Lawyers advised on the transfer of its psoriasis drug business without affecting Nimbus’s other research and development projects.

Dentons
O: 7; L: 6; I: 6; Total: 19
After a criminal investigation at publicly funded Borrego Health, a group of medical clinics serving poor areas, California’s Department of Health Care Services threatened to suspend Medicaid payments. The firm helped Borrego to file for bankruptcy and secure payments due from the state.

Standout

King & Spalding: WINNER
Originality: 9; Leadership: 9; Impact: 8; Total: 26
The firm used legislation including the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (Rico) Act, a US federal law designed to tackle organised crime gangs, to bring the operators of the Glupteba botnet, a sophisticated malware, to court on behalf of its client, Google.

A New York judge backed the technology giant in demanding settlements against two Russians named as operators of the botnet, who eventually appeared in court, and their attorneys, in a court order that eased Google’s efforts to disrupt the botnet in the US and overseas.

Morrison Foerster
O: 8; L: 9; I: 8; Total: 25
When a hacker stole $197mn in assets from UK-based crypto trading platform Euler Finance in early 2023, the firm helped to recover the funds within three weeks. A team worked on negotiations with the hacker while working with international law enforcement and blockchain research group Chainalysis to narrow the search. The platform has since ceased operations. Commended individual: William Frentzen

Highly commended

Hausfeld
O: 7; L: 7; I: 8; Total: 22
The firm was one of three that led a class action on behalf of 76.6mn US consumers against telecoms company T-Mobile after a data breach in 2021. It was the second-biggest US settlement for a data breach to date, securing $350mn to be paid out in damages and a further $150mn to be spent on upgrading its data security.

Commended

Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders
O: 6; L: 7; I: 7; Total: 20
The privacy and cyber practice includes industry experts and data scientists who build client security systems and run forensic inquiries in-house, supplementing the traditional legal adviser role. It helps clients comply with best practices in holding data and ensuring customer privacy and runs weekly seminars for them on emerging tech such as generative AI.

DLA Piper
O: 6; L: 6; I: 7; Total: 19
Trained cyber security consultants work with lawyers in the firm’s data protection, privacy and cyber security team to advise local and multinational clients globally.

Standout

Sullivan & Cromwell: WINNER
Originality: 8; Leadership: 8; Impact: 8; Total: 24
Acting for generative artificial intelligence start-up OpenAI, the firm helped structure a $10bn extension of its partnership with tech company Microsoft. As well as a fresh injection of capital from Microsoft, the agreement in January established the tech giant as exclusive cloud computing provider to OpenAI and secured access to its products. The deal reflects Microsoft’s expectation that AI will transform its business model and services.

Ropes & Gray
O: 8; L: 8; I: 7; Total: 23
The firm advised Pfizer in its $11.6bn cash purchase in 2022 of US biotech Biohaven Pharmaceuticals — the pharma company’s biggest deal in more than five years. The deal secured Pfizer rights to Nurtec, the blockbuster migraine medication, while Biohaven’s vestigial business was spun off as a listed company following the acquisition. The new business will be entitled to continued royalty payments if Nurtec sales exceed $5.25bn a year.

Highly commended

Latham & Watkins
O: 7; L: 7; I: 8; Total: 22
The firm advised media company Endeavor on the merger of its subsidiary Ultimate Fighting Championship with World Wrestling Entertainment to create TKO Group. Endeavor retained a 51 per cent controlling stake in the group, which listed on the New York Stock Exchange in September.

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
O: 7; L: 7; I: 8; Total: 22
The firm advised US professional wrestling group World Wrestling Entertainment on its merger with Ultimate Fighting Championship, owned by Ari Emanuel’s Endeavor media rights group, to create TKO Group. Commended individual: Kyle Seifried

Hogan Lovells
O: 7; L: 7; I: 7; Total: 21
Over the past two years, the firm’s sports practice has advised on the two biggest deals for NFL sports teams to date. Lawyers helped negotiate the $6bn purchase of Washington Commanders and the sale of Denver Broncos for $4.65bn, in compliance with existing ownership rules. In 2021, lawyers also advised a group of financial investors buying a minority stake in the basketball franchise Golden State Warriors, following a relaxation by the league of its ownership rules. Commended individual: Matt Eisler

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
O: 7; L: 7; I: 7; Total: 21
The firm’s asset-backed securities team is helping clients raise funds through the securitisation of assets in industries where this is relatively uncommon — such as intellectual property assets in the TV and music industries. The team combines lawyers that have relevant industry expertise with bond specialists. Commended individual: Leah Sanzari

Commended

Kirkland & Ellis
O: 9; L: 6; I: 5; Total: 20
The firm’s liability management and credit opportunities team helps clients facing the threat of bankruptcy to reduce debt, raise capital and buy time. The team recently advised dialysis provider US Renal Care in a capital raising and restructuring of its distressed debt. It also helped home goods company Bed Bath & Beyond ahead of its collapse, and the private equity owners of At Home Group, the struggling home furnishings company.

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough
O: 8; L: 8; I: 4; Total: 20
The firm advised on the formation of Redemption Holding Company to acquire Utah-based bank Holladay Bank & Trust and turn it into a minority depository institution — a bank primarily owned by ethnic minorities. The deal, which is expected to close before the end of 2023, will make Redemption Holding Company the first black-owned bank in the Rock Mountains state.

McGuireWoods
O: 7; L: 6; I: 6; Total: 19
The firm advised George Mason University on construction of the Institute for Digital Innovation (IDIA) in Arlington, Virginia. The deal involves George Mason leasing land to real estate developer Edgemoor for its campus expansion and construction of the IDIA.

Standout

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman: WINNER
Originality: 9; Leadership: 9; Impact: 8; Total: 26
The nuclear energy team worked with the Fusion Industry Association — a lobby group that advocates for the commercialisation of nuclear fusion. The firm successfully helped argue the case for a less onerous governance regime. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission said its decision should help provide certainty to private investors backing pilot research aiming to demonstrate fusion as a plausible eventual source of safe and affordable energy.

McGuireWoods
O: 8; L: 8; I: 7; Total: 23
The firm helped Dominion Energy secure state approvals for an offshore wind project in Virginia. The firm advised on securing more favourable terms in “performance guarantee” arrangements than those originally sought by state authorities for the project. These were eventually agreed in December 2022. The $9.8bn project is now expected to be installed by the end of 2026 and to power up to 660,000 homes.

Highly commended

Bracewell
O: 8; L: 8; I: 6; Total: 22
The firm advised Georgia-based Synovus Bank on its $45mn purchase of energy transition tax credits from a battery storage developer created by project spending in Texas. It is one of the first purchases of energy transition tax credits since the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which eased the sale of tax credits gained from investing in renewable energy projects to third parties.

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
O: 7; L: 8; I: 7; Total: 22
The firm advised Microsoft on a deal to supply one of its data centres in Washington state with green power supplied by a division of energy utility BC Hydro. The agreement involves BC Hydro’s subsidiary Powerex directly matching the data centre’s energy demands by varying its hydroelectric output.

Sidley Austin
O: 8; L: 7; I: 7; Total: 22
The firm advised energy company Distributed Solar Development on a $155mn securitisation of solar projects. This combines on-site solar assets, including commercial and industrial projects, such as solar canopies over car parks. The client is aiming to expand the market in such deals, despite their legal complexity.

Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders
O: 7; L: 7; I: 7; Total: 21
The firm advised client PacifiCorp, a power utility provider operating across six western US states, on negotiations with local and national regulators over the operation of the “extended day-ahead market”, planned for launch next year. The project aims to extend the sharing of electricity in the region, to improve reliability and save costs by balancing supply and demand better.

Commended

Sidley Austin
O: 6; L: 7; I: 7; Total: 20
The firm advised four investors on a $650mn investment in a 300GWh green hydrogen production and storage facility in Utah, which is expected to be one of the world’s largest when completed in 2025. The clients were Canada’s Alberta Investment Management Corporation, Manulife Financial Corporation, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and Singapore sovereign fund GIC. Commended individual: Tim Chandler

Hogan Lovells
O: 7; L: 6; I: 6; Total: 19
The firm advised fusion energy company Helion Energy on a potentially pioneering nuclear fusion power purchase agreement. If successful, Helion will supply Microsoft with 50MW or more of electricity derived from its planned fusion reactor facility. Full details of the agreement remain undisclosed.

King & Spalding
O: 8; L: 6; I: 5; Total: 19
The firm is advising EnergySource Minerals on the construction and financing of a lithium project in California, in a deal that takes into account uncertainties around production and market prices. The project will use the client’s proprietary technology to extract lithium from brine drawn from local geothermal reservoirs for use in electric car batteries.

Sullivan & Cromwell
O: 7; L: 7; I: 5; Total: 19
The firm helped California Resources Corporation, an oil and gas company, strike a deal with asset manager Brookfield to fund a proposed carbon capture and sequestration project, one of the first planned in California.

Standout

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius: WINNER
Originality: 8; Leadership: 9; Impact: 9; Total: 26
In 2022, the firm negotiated a class action settlement with the US Department of Defense, US Army, and Department of Homeland Security. The deal overturned refusals to grant US citizenship to more than 2,000 legal immigrant soldiers and veterans, which had left them and their families vulnerable to deportation from the country. The firm argued that the terms of the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest enlistment scheme entitled the personnel to eventual naturalisation.

Akerman
O: 8; L: 9; I: 8; Total: 25
After the collapse, in 2021, of Champlain Towers South apartment block in Miami, killing 98 people, a judge appointed Akerman partner Michael Goldberg as receiver to co-ordinate related lawsuits and liaise between various parties. He had a leading role in efforts that secured $1.1bn from the insurers and others, and $96mn from the sale of the site. Goldberg also took part in negotiating the division of compensation between families of victims and owners of the building. Overall, litigation was resolved much faster than expected.

Moore & Van Allen
O: 8; L: 8; I: 8; Total: 24
The firm helps banks improve their detection of financial activity related to human trafficking and advises on how they can support victims, including granting access to bank accounts. In 2022 it successfully proposed a new rule to update remedies available under the 2021 Debt Bondage Repair Act. Commended individual: Sarah Byrne

Dechert
O: 7; L: 8; I: 8; Total: 23
The firm uses its global network to work with campaign group Freedom Now to communicate with political prisoners around the world and to help negotiate their release. This year, women’s rights defender Saba Kord Afshari, who had been arrested in 2019 in Iran, was released as a result of the collaboration. More generally, summer associates are invited to help uncover relevant cases while in this “stepping stone” role and can then pursue them along with the wider team if they join the firm.

Highly commended

Davis Wright Tremaine
O: 6; L: 8; I: 8; Total: 22
The firm partnered with three organisations — the Knight Foundation, which provides journalism grants; charity Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press; and corporate sponsor Microsoft — to pilot ProJourn in 2020-21. The pro-bono initiative, which supports underfunded journalists and small newsrooms by providing legal services, including pre-publication review of material and requests to access public records, has expanded to several states from the initial two.

Mayer Brown
O: 7; L: 8; I: 7; Total: 22
The firm helped Children’s Law Center, a lobby group, to campaign for the district council in Washington DC to remove police officers from schools, by conducting research and drafting testimony around other school safety approaches taken around the country. A city council vote in 2021 to reduce police numbers was subsequently reversed, however.

McDermott Will & Emery
O: 8; L: 7; I: 6; Total: 21
Working alongside charities Legal Action Chicago and the National Housing Law Project, the firm led a successful class-action lawsuit this year against Chicago Housing Authority for overcharging families who were eligible for a “hardship exemption” to help them meet their minimum rent requirements, but had not been informed such assistance was available.

White & Case
O: 7; L: 6; I: 8; Total: 21
In 2015, the firm began work with two campaign groups — ArchCity Defenders and Civil Rights Corps — to file a class action against the city of Ferguson, Missouri, for illegally jailing people who failed to pay fines for minor offences. In 2022, the class action was certified by a judge, and a settlement is being negotiated. The firm helped argue that the plaintiffs’ shared experiences, such as unjust jail time and lack of representation, made them a single class.

Commended

Creel, García-Cuéllar, Aiza y Enríquez
O: 6; L: 7; I: 7; Total: 20
The firm has continued its work pro bono with environmental charity World Wide Fund for Nature in Mexico to advise on projects such as the protection of jaguars. And in 2022 it also worked with law firm Latham & Watkins to provide legal counsel to LGBTQ+ mental health charity The Trevor Project in its launch in Mexico, and still supports the organisation.

Veterans Legal Institute
O: 6; L: 7; I: 7; Total: 20
The non-profit public interest law firm in 2022 assisted a client who was discharged from the military on “other than honourable” grounds for behavioural issues, which stopped her receiving disability compensation. The lawyers showed she had been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder from time served in Iraq and secured $300,000 in back pay.

Standout

DLA Piper: WINNER
Originality: 8; Leadership: 9; Impact: 9; Total: 26
The firm’s global artificial intelligence and data analytics team, launched in March 2023, comprises 100-plus lawyers and more than a dozen data scientists. Recent work includes developing methods for clients to test their artificial intelligence (AI) tools for bias. It has also defended OpenAI in defamation and copyright cases, and helped a range of prominent institutions in their investigations into AI governance.

Davis Wright Tremaine
O: 9; L: 9; I: 6; Total: 24
The firm worked with ecommerce site Amazon’s legal team to file actions against fake review brokers. The lawyers helped file lawsuits in Washington DC as part of a co-ordinat­ed worldwide action. It worked with outside investigators, and rival Meta — owner of Facebook and Instagram — to identify and disrupt perpetrators of the misleading reviews. The global campaign appears to have prompted others to shut down their operations and has led to the conviction of two brokers in China.

Morrison Foerster
O: 8; L: 8; I: 8; Total: 24
A multidisciplinary team has supported OpenAI in the launch and development of generative AI tools ChatGPT and DALL-E 2, helping to negotiate partnerships with Microsoft and its subsidiary GitHub. The intellectual property litigation team is helping to defend OpenAI in a lawsuit over its work with GitHub to create Microsoft’s AI-powered assistant Copilot. The case, alleging violation of copyright and other business laws, will help set a precedent for chatbot and other AI developers.

Kirkland & Ellis
O: 7; L: 8; I: 8; Total: 23
The firm helped Canadian investment group Brookfield Infrastructure Partners to negotiate its 49 per cent stake in a joint venture with chipmaker Intel to fund construction of a $30bn semiconductor plant in Arizona. The financing structure gives Intel access to a larger pool of capital to expand its US manufacturing.

Highly commended

Hogan Lovells and Weil, Gotshal & Manges
O: 8; L: 7; I: 7; Total: 22
Weil, Gotshal & Manges advised Facebook-owner Meta in its takeover of Within Unlimited, maker of virtual reality fitness app Supernatural, which was advised by Hogan Lovells. The firms helped their clients overturn objections to the deal from the Federal Trade Commission, the US competition regulator, which had argued that Meta would gain an unfair advantage in the emerging VR market.

Hausfeld
O: 8; L: 7; I: 6; Total: 21
In September 2023, Hausfeld lawyers worked alongside other law firms to secure a preliminary $90mn settlement for 48,000 small app developers in an antitrust class action suit against Google. The deal required the tech giant to reduce fees that it levies on its Play Store for app and in-app purchases, and to publish an annual transparency report.

Latham & Watkins
O: 7; L: 7; I: 7; Total: 21
The firm advised US satellite company Viasat on its acquisition of UK-based rival Inmarsat. It helped persuade regulators in the US and the UK that there would be enough competition from others, such as Elon Musk’s Starlink.

Commended

White & Case
O: 7; L: 8; I: 5; Total: 20
The firm advised Mexican bank Banorte on the creation of an affiliate, Banco Bineo, a digital bank scheduled to launch in 2023-2024. The firm drew on similar experiences in other jurisdictions to win support for the venture from Mexican regulators.

Latham & Watkins
O: 6; L: 7; I: 6; Total: 19
The crypto division of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz partnered with the law firm to create Decentralization Matrix — a resource to help legal practitioners, innovators, investors and policymakers to better understand blockchain technology.