11 Latham Partners Named 2024 MVPs by Law360

Eleven Latham & Watkins partners have been named 2024 MVPs of the Year by Law360, the most of any law firm, in the legal news service’s annual selection of leading lawyers in a range of practice area and industry categories. Law360 recognizes honorees who “have distinguished themselves from their peers by securing hard-earned successes in high-stakes litigation, complex global matters and record-breaking deals.”

The 2024 Latham Law360 MVPs are:

George Davis, Global Chair of the firm’s Restructuring & Special Situations Practice, honored as a Bankruptcy MVP. Based in New York, he has led some of the most complex and novel recapitalization and restructuring transactions of the past three decades, unlocking the firm’s global platform to guide clients on strategy, litigation risk, and board duties. He recently served as lead counsel for Audacy, navigating the second-largest US radio group through a Chapter 11 plan that reduced its debt from US$1.9 billion to US$350 million and established a robust capital structure that positions Audacy for long-term growth.

Justin Hamill, Global Chair of the Mergers & Acquisitions Practice, selected as a M&A MVP. Based in New York, he represents clients in a range of complex corporate matters, with a focus on high-value M&A and private equity deals. He is leading the Latham team representing Skydance Media in its pending merger with Paramount Global to form “New Paramount” — a next-generation media and technology leader with an enterprise value of approximately US$28 billion.

Michelle Kelban, Global Co-Chair of the firm’s Real Estate Practice, named a Real Estate MVP. Based in New York, she has spearheaded the practice’s strategic vision, and helps clients navigate all types of complex and bespoke transactions throughout the capital structure and across asset classes. She represented longtime client Cain International in securing US$2 billion in construction financing to support the development of the US$5 billion mixed use hotel project, One Beverly Hills in California — one of the largest real estate development projects in history. Michelle also advised leading global alternative investment manager Ares Management in the formation of a joint venture with real estate developer and office property operator, RXR, which could see up to US$1 billion in investments targeting office debt and equity opportunities in New York.

Roman Martinez, a member of the firm’s Supreme Court & Appellate Practice, named an Appellate MVP. A Washington, D.C.-based litigator, Roman focuses on appeals in the US Supreme Court, the US Courts of Appeals, and state appellate courts, achieving significant victories in precedent-setting matters involving a wide array of legal issues. For example, he led an appellate team that secured the US Supreme Court decision in Relentless v. Department of Commerce (decided with Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo), overturning the decades-old Chevron deference doctrine, which had required courts to defer to Executive Branch agencies when resolving the meaning of ambiguous statutes.

Michele Johnson, Global Chair of the Litigation & Trial Department, selected as a Class Action MVP. She counsels her clients in the boardroom to help them navigate transactions at their earliest stages and serves as lead advocate once bet-the-company litigation takes shape. She scored a March 2024 dismissal with prejudice for Twitter of a proposed stock-drop class action in federal court over alleged cybersecurity, data-privacy, and user-metric misrepresentations.

Ben Naftalis and Doug Yatter, named jointly as Fintech MVPs. Naftalis, New York Deputy Office Managing Partner and a member of the White Collar Defense & Investigations Practice, and Yatter, Global Vice Chair of the White Collar Defense & Investigations Practice, are both based in New York. They advised global cryptocurrency players across multiple jurisdictions in first of their kind regulatory investigations, litigation, and white collar matters. For example, the duo led a team that represented Changpeng Zhao (known as CZ), founder and former CEO of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, in resolving multiple complex agency investigations. Among other matters, they also led a team that secured dismissal with prejudice for a16z in a significant class action lawsuit in which plaintiffs alleged losses from “scam tokens” on the Uniswap Protocol and sued developers and investors.

Amanda Reeves, a member of the Antitrust & Competition Practice and Office Managing Partner of the Washington, D.C. office, named as a Competition/Antitrust MVP. Mandy is widely regarded as a true triple threat, offering clients a honed skill set spanning global merger clearance, antitrust trial work, and complex anticompetitive conduct investigations. As part of a cross-discipline team of Latham litigators, she recently scored a major victory for U.S. Sugar when the Third Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed a Delaware federal court’s prior ruling that the purchase of Imperial Sugar by U.S. Sugar is not only not anti-competitive but also pro-consumer.

Serrin Turner, a member of the Connectivity, Privacy & Information Practice, honored as a Cybersecurity & Privacy MVP. Based in New York, he represents clients on data security and privacy matters, including data privacy class-action litigation and regulatory inquiries into data security and privacy incidents. Serrin recently led the Latham team representing SolarWinds in obtaining a landmark ruling dismissing in large part an enforcement action in which the US Securities & Exchange Commission had aimed to expand its regulatory authority over the cybersecurity controls and disclosures of public companies.

Stacey VanBelleghem, a member of the firm’s Environment, Land & Resources Practice, selected as an Environment MVP. Based in Washington, D.C., she represents clients at the cutting edge of renewable energy and other initiatives shaping the energy landscape, including first-of-their-kind matters in energy transition and decarbonization, working both to secure project approvals and to intervene and defend approvals in court. She recently led the representation of Ørsted in a federal case challenging seven authorizations for Ørsted’s US offshore wind projects, resulting in the District Court in New Jersey dismissing all claims, and plaintiffs subsequently dropping those projects from the case.

Christopher Yates, former Global Co-Chair of the Antitrust & Competition Practice, honored in the Sports category. Yates litigates precedent-setting cases across the US, with particular focus on monopolization and sports antitrust litigation. For example, he represents the ACC, UFC, NASCAR, Fanatics, and others.