Four Arnold & Porter Practices Named to Law360's 'Practice Group of the Year' List

Arnold & Porter’s Antitrust/Competition, Environmental, FDA and Healthcare, Government Contracts Teams have been named to Law360’s “Practice Group of the Year” list for 2015.

In a profile published on January 4, the Law360 editors highlighted the Antitrust/Competition practice’s “remarkably industrious year,” in which its 90 attorneys on two continents handled “a slew of deals worth billions of dollars,” while its litigators were “nabbing antitrust wins for the likes of HarperCollins Publishers and the Golden State Warriors.”  One of the biggest transactions cited was Arnold & Porter’s advising GE on the antitrust issues of its bid to acquire the power businesses of French conglomerate Alstom SA.

Law360 also highlighted the Environmental group’s work in helping BP PLC broker a “historic settlement” over the Deepwater Horizon disaster, which according to Law360, “underscores Arnold & Porter’s ability to resolve high-stakes environmental disputes.”  The firm has approximately 45 attorneys that work on the full spectrum of environmental matters, from toxic tort litigation and environmental enforcement to chemical and climate change regulation.  “That diversity of expertise is what's allowed the group to grow in recent years as other firms have scaled back their environmental practices,” Law360 noted.

Arnold & Porter’s Healthcare practice consists of 30 attorneys in the U.S. and 10 in London, and handles matters across the spectrum of health care and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issues.  The firm represents large and small drug companies, biologic, medical device and diagnostic businesses, laboratory services, providers and trade associations.  Among other matters, Law360 noted that in 2015, Arnold & Porter “scored several important court rulings for the pharmaceutical industry and counseled clients on regulatory aspects of product development and transactions, including representing Aduro Biotech Inc. in its negotiation of a $750 million collaboration with Novartis AG.”

According to Law360, Arnold & Porter’s more than 30-member Government Contracts group “kicked off the year with a noteworthy win” lifting a short-lived contract suspension against FedBid Inc., the reverse auction company accused of an improper relationship with a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs official.  In February, the company signed an administrative agreement with the Air Force including the resignation of its former board chairman and appointment of a new compliance officer, following allegations in a VA report that found a senior official operated as a FedBid agent, interfered with an inspector general investigation and joined the company in an effort to discredit an official who tried to stop the FedBid reverse auctions.

Law360 Practice Group of the Year winners were selected from nearly 730 submissions.  Editors made their selections based on the significance of the litigation wins or deals worked on; the size and complexity of the litigation wins or deals worked on; and the number of significant, large or complex deals the group worked on or lawsuits the group won between October 1, 2014, and October 1, 2015.