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After operating for two years in two different New York offices,
Ropes & Gray brought its 250 New York lawyers together
in January 2007 in completely renovated state-of-the art
space at 1211 Avenue of the Americas on 48th Street. The
firm occupies six floors from the 35th through 40th floors
of the building and boasts spectacular views of Manhattan
and the Hudson River. Currently, space is plentiful enough
to provide every first-year associate with his or her own
office. The firm has options to lease floors on contiguous
floors to facilitate expected future growth.
The new offices are adjacent to Rockefeller Center. Through
its two predecessor firms — Reboul MacMurray and Fish & Neave
— the firm has a long history in the Rockefeller Center. Reboul MacMurray, a private equity powerhouse, was in Rockefeller
Center for its entire thirty year history before its combination
with Ropes & Gray in May 2003. Fish & Neave, whose proud legacy
in intellectual property dates to the 19th century, was also
based in Rockefeller Center at the time of its combination
with Ropes & Gray in January 2005. The old offices of Reboul
MacMurray and Fish & Neave,
while charming, could not accommodate the dynamic growth and technological
demands of our New York practice. The new offices provide all
the latest amenities in office design and are just a stone's
throw away from the delights of Rockefeller Center.
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Since early 2007, Ropes & Gray's
New York office has been located at 1211 Avenue of
the Americas on 48th Street, in historic Rockefeller
Center. This prime midtown location allows associates
to experience the incredible array of professional,
cultural and leisure activities that New York offers. |
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Ropes & Gray is steps away from
Rockefeller Center, one of New York's
most exciting holiday and cultural venues. |
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Named for John D. Rockefeller, Jr.,
who leased the site from Columbia University in 1929, Rockefeller
Center is a 19-building complex that stretches from 49th to 52nd
Streets and Fifth to Seventh Avenues. Rockefeller Center offers
exquisite gardens and the work of some of the 20th Century's
best-known artists. Rockefeller Center's art deco buildings
are connected by a series of shop-lined subterranean passageways
that extend to the firm's new offices and are particularly useful
in inclement weather. The Center's world-famous ice skating rink
is transformed into an al fresco dining area during the summer
months. Rockefeller Center is also the home of NBC, the "Today
Show," and
Radio City Music Hall. The lighting of the Rockefeller Center
tree is one of the highlights of the holiday season. For more
on Rockefeller Center go to http://www.rockefellercenter.com.
Within three-square blocks of
our new office, there are literally hundreds of places to
eat, shop, and stroll. Our offices are a short walk from Broadway
theatres, the Museum of Television and Radio and the newly
renovated Museum of Modern Art, blocks from Central Park,
the New York Public Library and Madison Square Garden, and
in close proximity to the famous upscale shops along Fifth
Avenue — including
Saks Fifth Avenue and Henri Bendel.
We are convenient to many major subway points, as well as bus
lines (http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us).
This proximity to public transportation gives associates who
choose to live here easy access to some of the most desirable
areas of the city. Those associates who make a home outside the
city limits will be able to take advantage of the Metro-North
Commuter Railroad, the Long Island Railroad, and the major bridges
and tunnels that lead into the city. |
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Wall Street is at the center of the world's leading financial
district, and the term is now synonymous
with U.S. financial
markets. |
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Practicing law in an exciting city
such as New York presents many unique opportunities to our associates.
New York is a world capital of industry and commerce. The city
is home to top securities firms,
international banks representing every major country, and
the New York Stock Exchange, the world's largest marketplace
for stocks.
More than 10,000 manufacturers and industrial firms can be found here. The city
is also a hotbed for the high-tech, media and entertainment, medicine, insurance,
real estate, and professional services industries. In fact, approximately 4,000
high-tech and new media companies, ranging from small start-ups to large enterprises,
call New York City their home.
With expertise across many disciplines, associates
in Ropes & Gray's New York office have the opportunity to serve an
impressive list of clients in four complementary areas of practice:
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- Corporate
- Litigation
- Bankruptcy & Business Restructuring
- Tax & Benefits
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Corporate
Intellectual Property
Ropes & Gray's combination with Fish & Neave
in January 2005 catapulted the firm into the forefront of
the intellectual property bar. Ropes & Gray
is consistently ranked as having one of the top intellectual
property practices in New York and in the nation. The lawyers
in our IP
Group have extensive legal, scientific and industry
experience. With it, they help clients structure and evaluate
transactions to maximize the potential value of their intangible
assets.
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Dave
Bergan (Columbia Law School '02) and partner Steve Pepe discuss an intellectual property matter for Timex. |
Private Equity
In March 2008, Private Equity Analyst, for the fifth consecutive
year, ranked Ropes & Gray as the top U.S. law firm in
private equity fund formation for its representation of general
partners and limited partners in the formation of 574 funds.
Private equity firms typically form investment funds structured
as partnerships to raise capital from large institutional
investors such as pension funds and college endowments and
use this capital to make investments in companies with the
potential to substantially expand and improve their businesses.
As a result, our New York office's private equity practice
calls upon a wide array of
disciplines throughout the private equity investment cycle, from the partnership
expertise
necessary
to form a fund, to the mergers and acquisitions and financing expertise needed
to facilitate the fund's acquisition of portfolio companies, and the securities
expertise necessary to issue shares of a portfolio company to the public in
an IPO.
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Isabel
Dische (Yale Law School '04) frequently collaborates with partner Dan
Kolb in representing a large Dutch pension plan that is one of the largest investors of any kind in the world in connection with its private equity investments. |
Leveraged buyouts
A significant component of our Private
Equity work involves the acquisition of controlling interests in public and
private companies through leveraged buyouts and recapitalizations. Our representations
include all cash "going-private" transactions through tender offer
or merger, financed by private equity, subordinated debt, and senior bank debt.
Transactions also involve purchases of subsidiaries and divisions of public companies
and acquisitions of private companies in conjunction with management teams. Separate
teams of lawyers generally work on the mergers and acquisitions and financing
aspects of these transactions.
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Associates Adam
Reiss (Harvard Law School '05) and Elissa Port (University of Virginia School of Law '05) teamed with partner Josh
Leuchtenburg (center) to advise Fenway Partners and its portfolio company, Riddell Bell, on the acquisition of Easton Sports. The combined company is now known as Easton-Bell Sports. |
Mergers, acquisitions and other transactions
As part of the practice of the Securities & Public
Companies group,
our New York office's corporate
attorneys
advise
public
and
private
corporations
on
their strategic mergers and acquisitions activity and related securities
law compliance.
In addition, and especially through our Intellectual
Property Group,
we regularly advise companies on strategic alliances, joint ventures
and licensing arrangements throughout the world, including joint production
and manufacturing and joint
development and exploitation of technology.
IPOs, private placements, and securities compliance
Our Securities & Public
Companies Group also represents issuers, underwriters,
placement
agents
and
selling stockholders in securities offerings of all types, including initial
public offerings,
secondary
offerings, shelf registrations, private placements, exchange and rights offerings,
and high-yield debt offerings of convertible securities. We also advise corporations,
financial institutions, controlling stockholders and executive employees on compliance
with the Securities Act of 1933 and the
Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as well as stock exchange and NASD rules. Once again, a
significant amount of this work is done out of our New York office.
Venture capital
Through our Venture Capital & Technology
Companies Group, we handle preferred
equity
and
debt
financing
for venture capital firms and emerging companies at all stages of development,
from
seed
capital
through
initial
public
offering. In New York, we work with firms in a variety of industries,
including information technology, health care and life sciences, information
processing, software, Internet
and wireless infrastructures, new media, and consumer products and services.
Investment Management
Ropes and Gray's Investment Management Practice
is among the largest and most diversified of any U.S. law firm. The principal
focus of our practice in
New York (as in our other offices) is the representation of investment companies,
investment advisers, and hedge fund sponsors. We serve as regular counsel for
more than 900 mutual funds (or their independent directors or trustees). We also
represent numerous hedge fund sponsors in the organization and offering of hedge
fund products, both U.S. and off-shore vehicles.
In addition to our regular representation of investment advisers, we have an
active mergers and acquisitions practice representing buyers and sellers of money
management businesses.
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Partner Laurel
FitzPatrick (center) regularly works with associates Mark
Gurevich (Harvard Law School '04) and Egan Cammack (Georgetown University Law Center '04) on hedge fund matters. Laurel coordinates the firm's hedge fund practice from our New York office. |
Health Care
For more than three decades, Ropes & Gray's Health
Care Group, one of
the first established in the country, has been a pioneer in corporate and regulatory
matters. National in scope, the Health
Care Group represents the full spectrum of health care organizations, including
academic medical centers, hospitals, nursing homes and other long-term care facilities,
pharmaceutical companies, pharmacy benefit managers, managed care plans, physician
practice groups, laboratories, and other ancillary
service companies. In
the New York office, our health care practice includes mergers,
joint ventures and disaffiliations; conversions from not-for-profit to for-profit
status; and the representation of health care organizations on privacy, fraud
and abuse, third-party reimbursement, research, patient care, and compliance
matters.
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Partner Stephen
Warnke, left, and associate Heather Pierce (New
York University School of Law '05), right, are both members of the firm's Health
Care Group in New York. Steve was
recognized by Nightingale’s Health Care News as one
of 12 “Outstanding Fraud and Compliance Lawyers” of 2005. |
Litigation
Our New York litigation practice is a key component of, and fully integrated
with, our firmwide Litigation practice.
We offer below descriptions of the New York office's most active litigation practice
areas, together with hyperlinks providing firmwide background on those areas.
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From left to right, Brynn
Metzger-Hare (Fordham University Law School '05), Michele
Winneker (Seton Hall University School of Law '02) and partner Eric Hubbard are representing Cubaexport, a Cuban corporation, in litigation with the U.S. to defend Cubaexport's U.S. trademark registration for "Havana Club" rum. |
Intellectual Property
Ropes & Gray's intellectual property litigation capabilities took a quantum
leap forward with the firm's combination with Fish & Neave in January 2005.
Consistently ranked as one of the top IP litigation practices in New York and
nationwide, our dynamic IP Litigation
Group has multiple trials in progress at any time. We litigate intellectual
property cases across the country and counsel in the areas of patents, trade
secrets, trademarks and unfair competition on a world wide basis. We represent
numerous major corporations in patent litigation in a wide variety of industries,
including the chemical, pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries.
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From left to right, Gabrielle
Ciuffreda (University of Pennsylvania Law School '01), Sanjeev
Mehta (Fordham University School of Law '04) and partners Jim
Badke and Sona
De discuss strategy in connection with pending IP litigation for Becton Dickinson. |
Government Enforcement
Led by former federal prosecutors Jason
Brown and Michael McGovern, the New York Government Enforcement Group handles a wide array of criminal and regulatory matters. We represent both corporations and individuals in criminal cases, internal investigations and S.E.C. enforcement proceedings. The group also assist clients in developing compliance programs and employee training so that companies remain up to date on recent enforcement trends.
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Partner Mike McGovern (center) is pictured here discussing
a government enforcement matter with Anne
Green (University
of Pennsylvania Law School '05) and Adam Saltzman (Fordham
University School of Law '06). |
Securities
Our New York office litigation group has extensive experience in litigation and
arbitration
of
claims under federal securities laws, rules and regulations, including representation
of securities firms, issuers, corporations, officers and directors. These cases
have involved matters arising out of mergers and acquisitions transactions, securities
offerings, and investment decisions.
Complex Business Litigation
Our Complex Business Litigation practice in New York involves
representation of clients in
a
wide
array of commercial matters, including contractual disputes, business
torts, and transaction-based matters, both before and after closing.
The office's litigation clients comprise a diverse group of foreign
and domestic service providers, manufacturers and financial concerns.
Bankruptcy & Business Restructuring
Strong to begin with, the New York practice of the Bankruptcy
and Business Restructuring Department was further invigorated by the arrival
of a dynamic Bankruptcy Group including three partners.
We now have five partners and four associates practicing bankruptcy in New
York whose work includes representation of
secured
and unsecured creditors, creditors' committees, and trustees and debtors
in bankruptcy and reorganization proceedings. We also handle the restructuring
of companies for major institutional lenders, banks, and private equity
clients. In taking on these matters, our bankruptcy lawyers regularly work
closely with lawyers from other Departments.
Tax & Benefits
Ropes & Gray's Tax & Benefits practice is nationally renowned, and our
New York office's Tax & Benefits lawyers are crucial contributors to
that practice. A firmwide description of that practice is available by clicking Tax & Benefits;
set forth below are the area's of the firm's Tax & Benefits practice
in which the New York office is most active.
Transaction structuring
Our Tax & Benefits practice in New York encompasses all aspects of federal,
state, and local taxation. New York office Tax & Benefits lawyers take
the lead in structuring
domestic
and international
transactions and business activities, mergers and acquisitions, corporate
securities financing, executive compensation arrangements, and other corporate
and commercial matters.
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Partner Leo
Arnaboldi and associate Marnie
Metsch (Benjamin N. Cardozo School of
Law '00) advised Silver Lake Partners on the tax aspects of its investment in Nasdaq to enable Nasdaq to buy Instinet and its simultaneous
acquisition of one of Instinet's businesses. Leo is also the Vice Chairman
of the Hiring
Group. |
Partnerships
Our New York office Tax & Benefits lawyers are experienced
in a full range of domestic and international partnership
and tax-exempt entity matters. Much of this work comes in
the context of the
formation of private equity limited partnerships and the use of LLCs as
vehicles for transactional activity.
Investment funds
Our New York Tax & Benefits lawyers are on the cutting edge of all
aspects of the federal income taxation of registered and unregistered,
U.S. and foreign pooled investment funds
and their advisers. Our practice in this area is comprehensive, covering
all tax issues relating to a fund's organization, tax-efficient portfolio
strategies, treaty issues arising out of non-U.S. investment or non-U.S.
investors and fund reorganizations, and similar transactions. Our partner,
Susan Johnston, who is based in Boston but spends a significant amount
of her time in New York, is a co-author of the leading investment company
taxation treatise, Taxation of Regulated Investment Companies and Their
Shareholders.
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Partner Bill McCabe and Brian
Biddinger (Fordham University School of Law '02) enjoy a light moment while working on the Gentex litigation. |
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