About

Described as ‘an exceptional attorney’, Delta Air Lines’ deputy general counsel Matthew Knopf impressed nominators with his ‘great attention to detail and the consistent excellence of his work’. Knopf joined Delta in early 2016, a time when the airline was exploring opportunities in Latin America. The region is now very much on Delta’s radar, with the airline seeing unit revenues on routes to Brazil grow by 45% in the last quarter of 2016, a period in which revenues rose by more than 4% across Latin America as a whole. Arriving during a time of increased cross-border activity, Knopf’s ‘friendly and positive demeanour, meticulousness and expert understanding of even the most arcane details of various financings and transactions’ allowed him to make an instant contribution to the company. Knopf was previously a partner in the corporate group at the Minneapolis office of Dorsey & Whitney, where he also led the firm’s global mergers and acquisitions practice. At Delta, his responsibilities include corporate transactions, M&A and strategic alliances, SEC reporting and corporate governance, marketing transactions, financing matters and aircraft transactions. This varied workload is enough to challenge even the most experienced of lawyers, but Knopf remains calm: ‘In each of these subject-matter areas and many others’, says one nominator, ‘[His] expertise has shone through. He has a unique gift for seeing through to the heart of a matter and comprehending the legal issues that stem from it. For his expertise, his attention to detail, and most of all for the consistently outstanding results he produces for his employer, Matthew Knopf deserves [wider recognition]’.