The Week at Ropes & Gray: Highly Regarded PE Lawyer Joins Firm in New York; Significant Victory in Delaware for Oxbow Carbon; Multiple Cross-Border Transactions Announced; Legal Issues Affecting the Semiconductor Industry; Attorney Honored as “Lawyer of the Year” for Reuniting Families Separated at the U.S. – Mexico Border; Rankings & More Recognition in Asia

Below are weekly highlights of what’s happening at Ropes & Gray:

• Distinguished corporate transactions attorney Carolyn Vardi has joined the firm’s 350-lawyer New York office as a partner in our private equity transactions group. Ms. Vardi has two decades of experience advising PE firms, including on buyouts and dispositions of portfolio companies.
• A Ropes & Gray litigation team secured a key victory on behalf of client William I. Koch, founder and CEO of Oxbow Carbon LLC, when the Delaware Supreme Court announced its decision to vacate a Chancery Court order for a potential multibillion-dollar sale of Oxbow Carbon. The case has important implications for the law of contracts, the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and the governance of Delaware LLCs.
• Our clients announced several significant global transactions:
  • Biopharmaceutical firm CANbridge Pharmaceuticals Inc. has reached an exclusive licensing agreement in China with GC Pharma, a South Korea-based biopharmaceutical company, to commercialize Hunterase, a treatment for Hunter syndrome. Ropes & Gray advised CANbridge Pharmaceuticals in the deal.
  • HaystackID, a specialized eDiscovery services firm, announced its acquisition of eTERA Consulting, a leading eDiscovery managed services company. Ropes & Gray advised HaystackID in the acquisition.
  • A South African investor, represented by Pembrey Asset Management, announced the indirect acquisition and financing of prominent London office building One Bartholomew Lane from Hines UK, as asset manager acting on behalf of a sovereign wealth fund investor. Ropes & Gray advised the South African investor in the transaction.
• Our new podcast series, “Conductive Discussions,” focuses on legal issues of interest to the semiconductor industry. In the first episode of the series, lawyers from our IP transactions practice group discuss recent FRAND developments that affect supply chain and global patent licensing practices, as well as recent trends in civil and criminal trade secret enforcement.
• Benefits partner and pro bono committee co-chair Jenny Rikoski has been named one of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly’s 2018 “Lawyers of the Year,” an annual awards series that recognizes exceptional lawyers. Since June 2018, Ms. Rikoski has been leading Ropes & Gray’s representation of immigrant children and their parents who were separated at the Texas border as part of the U.S. government’s “zero-tolerance” policy for controlling its borders.
• The Legal 500 Asia Pacific, a leading legal directory, once again recognized Ropes & Gray as a standout firm in the Asia-Pacific region in its 2019 edition. The firm was ranked in 21 practice areas, and 31 Ropes & Gray attorneys were mentioned in editorial sections.
• Separately, International Financial Law Review has shortlisted Ropes & Gray for six awards as part of the 2019 IFLR Asia-Pacific Awards.
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