Edwin Northover
Mr. Northover has a broad cross-border public and private mergers & acquisitions practice, with a particular focus on mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures and distribution agreements in the insurance industry.
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
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Gareth Hughes
Gareth Hughes is a partner in the firm’s Hong Kong office and a member of the International Dispute Resolution Group. His practice focusses on major commercial disputes and investigations work, with a particular focus on financial institutions and contentious regulatory matters. With over 18 years of experience in the region, Mr. Hughes has built a successful practice specializing in commercial litigation, international arbitration and investigations work in relation to financial services, corporate finance, fraud, insurance and shareholder-related disputes. Mr. Hughes has acted for major corporates and financial institutions, with many of his matters involving the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
Gavin Anderson
Gavin Anderson is based in the Hong Kong office and is a member of the firm’s Investment Funds and Investment Management Group. He has broad experience in advising sponsors and investors on a variety of issues, including fund formation, co-investment and carried interest arrangements. Mr. Anderson’s recent experience includes acting for clients such as Baring Private Equity Asia, CDH Investments, Clearwater Capital, HarbourVest, Morgan Stanley, Navis Capital Partners, Southern Capital and Quilvest..
Jonathan Lewis
Jonathan F. Lewis is the Chair of the firm’s Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group and co-leads the People Solutions Group in New York. For more information on the firm’s People Solutions initiative, please click here. His practice encompasses all aspects of executive compensation and the deployment of human capital. The scope of his practice includes:
Public and private mergers and acquisitions, with an emphasis on the special issues raised in the private equity, healthcare and insurance sectors.
The design and operation of compensation plans and programs for both public and private companies, including related tax, accounting, governance and disclosure concerns.
The investment of the assets of ERISA pension plans in funds and separately managed vehicles, with significant experience of these issues in the private equity, insurance and real estate sectors.
Counselling public and private companies on sensitive matters relating to senior executives and their compensation, including hirings, departures and compensatory arrangements. For a summary of the considerations raised by these matters, please click here.
Representation of individual executives and management teams.
Mr. Lewis is recognized by Chambers USA (2023) as a leader in Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation. Clients say that he is “excellent” and “incredibly hands-on; he is always available and super-commercial.” He has also been described as “a fantastic lawyer” whose “judgment, critical thinking and bedside manner are differentiating.” He is said to be “very smart, thoughtful and commercial,” “an outstanding lawyer,” and “a superstar” with “incredible knowledge of a complex field, he is very practical and gives advice that is appreciated from a client’s perspective.” The Legal 500 US (2023) also recommends Mr. Lewis as a Leading Lawyer, where clients have praised his “creative and practical approach.”
Mr. Lewis is a frequent writer on legal developments regarding employee benefits and executive compensation. He is the author of “Private Equity and Hedge Fund Arrangements,” a chapter in Section 409A Handbook (BNA Books, 2d ed. 2016; 3rd ed. forthcoming); and author or co-author of “Debevoise Discusses Shareholder Climate Activism and 401(k) Plans,” CLS Blue Sky Blog (June, 2022); “Debevoise Discusses the Labor Department’s Proposal on ESG and ERISA,” CLS Blue Sky Blog (October, 2021); “DOL Fiduciary Rule Delayed: So What Should You Be Doing Now?,” Compliance Reporter (April, 2017); the Russian chapter of “Executive Compensation & Employee Benefits,” Getting The Deal Through, (July, 2015); and “Counting To 80,” Private Equity Manager (August, 2013). Mr. Lewis is also a frequent speaker at seminars and conferences, including Practicing Law Institute’s “Cool Compensation Considerations for the Private Company” (2017-2021).
Mr. Lewis received his B.A. from Harvard College in 1990 and his J.D. with high honors from The George Washington University Law School in 1994, where he was editor-in-chief of The George Washington Law Review. Mr. Lewis served as a law clerk to the Hon. Stewart Dalzell in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania from 1994 to 1996.
Luke Eldridge
Luke P. Eldridge is a corporate partner and a member of the firm’s Investment Management Group. His practice focuses on advising sponsors of private investment funds, co-investment vehicles and separately managed accounts, covering numerous sectors and strategies, including debt, energy, growth capital, emerging markets and venture capital funds. Mr. Eldridge’s recent experience includes acting for clients such as Carlyle, EIG Global Energy Partners, Glendon Capital Management, Sequoia Capital and Stone Point Capital.
Mr. Eldridge joined Debevoise in 2014. He received his J.D. magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a Certificate in Management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 2014. Mr. Eldridge was a member of the Order of the Coif and served as a comments editor for the University of Pennsylvania Law Review. He received his B.A. with highest distinction from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2011, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
Mr. Eldridge is a member of the Bar of the State of New York.
Mark Johnson
Mark Johnson is a partner in the firm’s Hong Kong office and a member of the International Dispute Resolution Group. His practice focuses on white collar/regulatory defense matters, cybersecurity matters and commercial litigation in Hong Kong and across Asia.For more than 25 years in the region, Mr. Johnson has built a successful practice advising on shareholders’ and directors’ disputes, internal and regulatory investigations, commercial litigation and inquiries from a range of regulatory bodies, both in Asia and elsewhere. These include matters involving the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Independent Commission Against Corruption. Much of his work is in the financial services and private wealth sectors.
Maurizio Levi-Minzi
Maurizio Levi-Minzi is an M&A lawyer with nearly 30 years of experience advising clients in complex joint ventures and cross-border acquisitions of a broad variety of assets in sectors such as energy, asset management infrastructure and consumer products. Mr. Levi-Minzi has led transactions in Latin America, the United States, Europe and Asia for private equity groups and strategic investors including Ambev, Barrick, Brookfield, BTG Pactual, Carlyle, Clessidra, CPPIB, CSN, GP Investments, H.I.G. Capital Management and Mitsui. He is ranked as a leading lawyer for mergers and acquisitions in Latin America by Chambers Global (2022), Chambers Latin America (2023), Latin Lawyer 250 (2022) and The Legal 500 Latin America (2023).
In Chambers Global (2023) and Chambers Latin America (2023), clients note that Mr. Levi-Minzi is “sharp as they come” with “terrific commercial instinct and remarkable responsiveness.” Clients have also said that Mr. Levi-Minzi is an “extremely experienced M&A expert” who is “a master in negotiations” and is “particularly good in handling complex matters.” He is said to have “excellent judgement” and is “a really great hands-on lawyer” who “is calm under pressure, asks the right questions, and always looks for the commercial solution.” He has also received praise for his work style: “He’s got a sense of humour, which is always helpful.” Mr. Levi-Minzi is also recognized as a leading M&A lawyer by IFLR1000 (2022) and has been named an “Expert in Mining” by Who’s Who Legal (2022). He co-authored the article “Private Equity Funds and Institutional Investors in M&A” in Latin Lawyer’s Guide to Mergers & Acquisitions,” (February, 2021). He also co-authored Latin Lawyer’s article entitled “A Yellow Brick Road for Brazilian Investors?” (July, 2016), “Going to El Norte,” (August, 2015) and “Lost in Translation,” (April, 2014), which discussed legal concepts in cross-border M&A with a focus on Brazil and the U.S. He is also the co-author of “Drilling For PE Deal Opportunities,” The Mining Journal (December, 2014); “Royalties in Peru and Chile,” The Mining Journal (August, 2014); “Private Equity & Venture Capital in Latin America deal structuring,” BVCA International Series (November, 2013); “Giving Notice,” International Financial Law Review (September, 2012); “How To Notify Under Brazil’s New Pre-Merger Antitrust Regime,” International Financial Law Review (August, 2012); “Brazil Effects New Merger Control Regime,” The Deal (August, 2012) and “Brick By Brick: Brazil,” Private Equity Manager (March, 2012).
In 2020, Mr. Levi-Minzi participated in the panel “Trends in M&A Contractual Practices in Brazil and the United States” at the inaugural “M&A Conference of the Americas” (MACA), in São Paulo. In 2019, he moderated a panel on “Deal-making in 2019 and beyond: everything you need to know” at the Latin Lawyer Live 10th Annual Private Equity conference, in New York, and on “Leading Complex Transactions” at the LACCA Live 10th Regional São Paulo Meeting, in Brazil. He also discussed trends in the Latin America M&A market at the IBA M&A Latin America Conference in Santiago, Chile.
Mr. Levi-Minzi is an adjunct professor of law at New York University, where he teaches a popular course in cross-border M&A. He also co-taught in 2022 cross-border M&A as visiting professor at the University of Sao Paulo (USP).
Mr. Levi-Minzi is a 1993 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and holds an M.B.A. in Finance from Golden Gate University. Prior to joining the firm, he was a banker with NMB Bank (ING Bank) in New York. Mr. Levi-Minzi is fluent in Italian and Spanish and proficient in Portuguese.
Meir Katz
Meir Katz is a tax partner and member of the firm’s Executive Compensation & Employee Benefits Group. His practice focuses on a broad range of executive compensation and employee benefits matters in corporate transactions, including public and private mergers and acquisitions and securities offerings, and on the design, negotiation and implementation of employee agreements and equity-based incentive and other compensation programs for public and private companies, financial sponsors, management groups and individual executives. Previously, for several years, he was a member of the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions Group, in which he worked on domestic and cross-border transactions for many of the firm’s private equity and corporate clients.
Mr. Katz is recommended by Chambers USA (2023), where clients note he is “an excellent practitioner and is detail-oriented.” He has also been described as “really smart, really thoughtful,” “excellent, responsive” and “a clear communicator” who is “extremely knowledgeable, both technically and commercially.” Mr. Katz is recognized as a Next Generation Partner by The Legal 500 US (2023), where he is said to be “a great collaborator and negotiator.”
Mr. Katz received his J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in 2004, Order of the Coif, and served as editor-in-chief of the Cardozo Law Review. Mr. Katz was admitted to the bar in New York in 2005 and has been with Debevoise since 2005. Prior to Debevoise, Mr. Katz served as a law clerk in the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia from 2004–2005.
Peter Goldsmith KC
Lord (Peter) Goldsmith QC, PC, London Co-Managing Partner and Chair of European and Asian Litigation, joined Debevoise in September 2007. Lord Goldsmith served as the UK’s Attorney General from 2001-2007, prior to which he was in private practice as one of the leading barristers in London. Lord Goldsmith acts for a variety of clients, alongside his role as chair of the firm’s European and Asian litigation practices, in arbitration and litigation in the UK and other countries. He is a QC and appears regularly in court as well as in arbitration.
Philip Rohlik
Philip Rohlik is a member of the firm’s Litigation Group whose practice focuses on international investigations, securities law and dispute resolution. Mr. Rohlik’s varied practice has included representation of U.S. and multinational companies in complex litigation and investigations, as well as in cybersecurity and data privacy issues, with a particular focus on Asia. Based in Asia since 2011, Mr. Rohlik leads the firm’s dispute resolution team in Shanghai. He has represented clients from the financial services, pharmaceutical/healthcare, engineering, manufacturing, insurance and entertainment sectors, in connection with white collar litigation, regulatory investigations, responses to cybersecurity incidents, domestic and international arbitration and domestic litigation. Mr. Rohlik also regularly counsels corporate clients on regulatory issues arising in the course of their business around the globe or in connection with M&A transactions.
Ryan Rafferty
Finance
Scott Selinger
Capital Markets
Sidney Levinson
Sidney Levinson is a partner and Co-Chair of the firm’s Restructuring Group and a member of the Special Situations team. Mr. Levinson has extensive experience advising a range of clients, including bondholders, secured lenders, debtors, trustees and creditors’ committees in large and complex restructuring and bankruptcy proceedings. His representations include major league sports teams, the retail and gaming industries, airlines and real estate developers, among others. Among his recent engagements are the noteholders of Guitar Center, Bon-Ton Department Stores, Hot Topic and numerous other retailers; 1.5 lien noteholders of Hexion; term lenders of NYDJ Apparel and Fontainebleau Las Vegas; second lien noteholders of Caesars Entertainment Operating Company; DIP lenders of Alpha Media and Barney’s; and the agent for lenders of subsidiaries of HNA Group. He also has represented companies in out-of-court restructurings and in Chapter 11 cases, such as the Los Angeles Dodgers and, on behalf of the Chapter 11 trustee, Hawaiian Airlines. In addition, Mr. Levinson has served as lead trial counsel in a number of high-profile cases, including representing Hawaiian Airlines in obtaining an $80 million judgment (plus attorney fees of $3.9 million) against Mesa Air Group arising from Mesa's breach of a confidentiality agreement and representing a group of noteholders of Premier Entertainment Biloxi in winning a $9.5 million judgment (plus an award of $1.5 million in interest) against a solvent debtor for violation of a no-call provision.
Throughout his career, Mr. Levinson has been recognized as a leading lawyer by various legal directories and trade publications and has spoken and written extensively on restructuring issues, and recently co-authored “Debevoise Discusses Key Questions Recent Crypto Bankruptcy Filings May Answer” for CLS Blue Sky Blog (July 2022). Mr. Levinson is ranked as a leading restructuring lawyer by Chambers USA, where clients note that he is “a very thoughtful and creative thinker in complex situations.” He is also recommended by The Legal 500 US.
Mr. Levinson is a fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy and previously served as a subcommittee co-chair for the ABA's Business Bankruptcy Committee. He served on the board of directors of the Los Angeles Bankruptcy Forum from 2007 to 2011 and is a former editor of the California Bankruptcy Journal. From 1992 until 1995, Mr. Levinson was a trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice (Civil Division), specializing in bankruptcy and commercial litigation. He received his J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1988 and his B.A. cum laude from Brandeis University in 1985.
William Chua
Corporate