- Chair: James Rishwain Jr
- Number of partners worldwide: approx. 348
- Number of other lawyers worldwide: approx. 355
Firm Overview:
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP is a full-service law firm with market-leading strengths in the energy, financial services, real estate and technology sectors. With a presence in the world’s major financial and technology and energy centres, the firm counsels clients on all aspects of global business and litigation. It works in multidisciplinary teams that allows it to anticipate trends and offer a 360-degree perspective to complex business and legal issues – helping clients to take greater advantage of new opportunities and better mitigate risk. This collaborative work style helps produce the results its clients seek.
Main Areas of Practice:
Business:
From entity formation and expansion to project finance, alternative investing to negotiating outsourcing agreements or executive compensation packages, Pillsbury’s Business Department advises emerging, middle market and multinational clients on all types of corporate, communications, securities, finance and IP transactions, particularly in the banking, energy, insurance, life sciences, retail, real estate, and technology sectors.
Litigation:
Pillsbury’s Litigation Department boasts more than 200 lawyers throughout the 14 office network. From corporate defense and special investigations to tax controversy, environmental litigation to IP counseling, the firm’s litigators have substantial trial experience at the state, federal and appellate level, as well as with the bankruptcy courts. The firm has conducted dispute resolutions before the world’s arbitration bodies, and are particularly noted for representing energy, financial services, government contractors, and technology companies in complex litigation matters, restructuring, ERISA and employment-related suits, and patent or trademark disputes.
Regulatory:
Pillsbury’s Regulatory Department offers a wide range of counseling related to compliance, regulatory hearings and investigations and public policy. Among its regulatory areas are aviation, banking and securities compliance, data privacy, energy and environmental, including climate change and sustainability, overnment relations, international trade, liquor and spirits, native american law and political law. The firm regularly negotiates trade agreements under WTO and NAFTA, advise on export and technology transfer controls, and represents clients in trade remedy proceedings before the International Trade Commission and the Court of International Trade, including antidumping, countervailing duty, and safeguard proceedings.
International Work: Pillsbury serves a growing international clientele, advising businesses and governments from more than 50 countries on commercial, regulatory and litigation matters at the heart of the global economy. The firm’s legal team helps corporations pursue strategic opportunities that span countries and continents, and advise national governments on the unique issues raised by state-sponsored market activity including:
• Acted as lead counsel to the Swiss government in litigation involving attempts by the IRS to obtain thousands of account holders’ names from Swiss bank UBS
• Advised government lawyers from Mexico appearing before a three-arbitrator panel at the World Bank in a dispute over trade barriers on high-fructose corn syrup
• Represented Qatar Petroleum in deals and projects including the acquisition of controlling interest in the $2.6 billion Golden Pass terminal and pipeline project, and the South Hook project, which will be the UK’s largest integrated LNG terminal
• Represented Emirates Nuclear Energy Company in setting up and negotiating a $20 billion contract for four nuclear units in the United Arab Emirates, the largest turnkey nuclear power contract ever announced
• Represented the Russian Ministry of Economic Development and Trade on legislative reform to encourage venture capital investment in the Russian technology sector
• Assisted Hainan Airlines with its entry into the US market and on corporate, regulatory, commercial, employment, immigration and tax matters
• Advised Asia Alternatives, the largest independent Japanese private equity fund-of-funds, on the $950 million Asia Alternatives Capital Partners II fund. Investors included pension funds, foundations and endowments from North America, Europe and Asia
• Helped Société Générale obtain a favourable reversal at the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in a precedent-setting derivatives decision
• Represented Varig Brazilian Airlines in the first-ever bankruptcy filed under a then-untested Brazilian law in a $2.8 billion restructuring
• Successfully litigated and settled all claims against Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) and its subsidiary, BITOR, related to a Canadian utility seeking C$2.2 billion in damages
• Represented Marubeni Corporation as a sponsor in the $3.8 billion international project financing of gas pipeline and LNG liquefaction terminal in Pampa Melchorita, Peru
• Advised The Nielsen Company on a $1 billion, 10 year business process outsourcing agreement with India’s Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the largest outsourcing ever to an Indian company