Latham M&A and Private Equity Chair Named a Dealmaker of the Year by The American Lawyer

Justin Hamill, Global Chair of Latham’s Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity Practice and a partner in the New York office, has been named a 2024 Dealmaker of the Year by The American Lawyer (AmLaw) for representing Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in its US$21+ billion merger with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), creating a new public company, TKO Group Holdings. The prestigious annual award honors lawyers who guided the most complex, groundbreaking, and impactful deals of the past year. Hamill was also named a 2020 Dealmaker of the Year for advising Virgin Galactic in a transaction establishing the world’s first and only publicly traded commercial human spaceflight company.

In a profile of Hamill’s work on the UFC transaction, AmLaw noted the “innovation, finesse, and around-the-clock commitment” required to accomplish the deal. It also called out the many multidisciplinary specialties — including M&A, capital markets, tax, entertainment, technology, and litigation, among others — that were involved in the deal, a unique offering that positions Latham as the go-to firm for complex transactions like this one. 

This is the sixth consecutive year that Latham partners have been named AmLaw Dealmakers of the Year, with George Davis and Jeff Bjork named last year for representing Mallinckrodt in the multinational pharmaceutical company’s successful Chapter 11 restructuring; Marc Jaffe and Tad Freese named in 2022 for representing Rivian Automotive in its IPO; Freese in 2021 for advising on Airbnb’s IPO;  and Greg Rodgers in 2019 for representing Spotify in its historic direct listing on the NYSE.