Latham & Watkins
Client SatisfactionLatham & Watkins has particular strength in multinational mandates, and advises a prestigious client base on a broad range of complex tax matters. Jointly leading the team are Karl Mah, who has particular expertise in structured finance and real estate matters, and Sean Finn, whose focus is high value M&A and private equity issues. Also leading are Helen Lethaby, noted for her aptitude in a broad range of transactions as well as matters relating to partnership taxation, and Aoife McCabe, an expert in transactional tax who made partner in January 2024. James Leslie is active for a broad range of clients, including private equity funds, financial institutions, and corporates.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Good understanding of the market and technical changes.’
‘Sean Finn - responsive and commercial, even when dealing with complex tax matters.’
'Latham and Watkins is one of the top law firms in the world. What differentiates them from other law firms I’ve worked with is the people. The firm has some of the best M&A tax lawyers.'
'Helen Lethaby is a highly qualified lawyer and a pleasure to work with. She is very technical in matters relating to global M&A restricting and is a master negotiator on the tax side.'
'Smart, commercial and creative. Very strong team with work performed to the highest standards with very tight deadlines. Work seamlessly with their colleagues.'
'Helen Lethaby - great to work with, able to distil and solve complex issues elegantly.'
'Responses are very fast and clear, observing the fast pace of the deal we have worked together.'
'James Leslie has rock solid tax knowledge, and experience with M&A transactions. He provided a lot of comfort to us during the transaction.'
Key clients
- Dilmon
- Citigroup
- Awaze Group
- Plastic Energy Ltd
- Block M Shareholders
- Diversified Energy Company
- Manchester United
- Farfetch
- Tapestry, Inc.
- Equistone Partners and Acuity Knowledge Partners
- Yellow Wood Partners, LLC
- Lithia Motors Incorporated
- Whirlpool
- Bridgepoint Advisers Limited
- Permira and Blackstone
- Patria Investments
- Bernstein Autonomous
- Norsk Hydro
- Goldman Sachs
Work highlights
- Advised Manchester United on the sale of its stake to Sir James Arthur Ratcliffe.
- Acted as lead deal counsel advising Whirlpool Corporation on its strategic joint venture with Arçelik A.Ş, creating a combined €6 billion revenue business as part of its portfolio transformation.
- Advised the underwriters on Birkenstock’s Initial Public Offering of 32,258,064 Ordinary Shares listed on NYSE, one of the largest US IPOs of 2023.
Lawyers
Hall of Fame
The lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and clients for their longstanding involvement in market-leading work.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Karl Mah, Helen Lethaby, Sean Finn, Aoife McCabe