The Week at Ropes & Gray: Three Client Transactions; New Co-Managing Partner of West Coast Offices; Leader in Bioethics Joins Ropes & Gray; Patent Battles Podcast; Awards for Diversity and Inclusion, Pro Bono, and Firm Quality of Life; Summer Associates Volunteer at Cradles to Crayons; New Speaker Series Honoring Tracy Brown

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

• Our clients announced three transactions:
• Evergreen Coast Capital announced its investment in WorkForce Software, a company that provides businesses with cloud workforce management solutions. A Ropes & Gray cross-office team advised Evergreen Coast Capital on the transaction.
• Avista Capital Partners, an American health care-focused private equity firm, announced its sale of Trimb, a consumer health care company, to Karo Pharma. Ropes & Gray advised Avista Capital Partners on the sale.
• Angelo Gordon’s Twin Brook Capital Partners announced the formation and raise of over $2.75 billion in equity commitments for its third direct lending fund, AG Direct Lending Fund III. Ropes & Gray advised Twin Brook Capital Partners on the fund.
• Ropes & Gray lawyers weighed in on new legal developments that will have an impact on business:
  • Health care partner Tom Bulleit addressed significant legal and political developments in the health care and life sciences industries. In Law360, he discusses the Trump administration’s efforts to remake the Affordable Care Act. In Inside Health Policy, he analyzes the proposed point-of-sale rebate rule for Medicare and Medicaid consumers.
  • A bipartisan group in Congress is working to revise Section 101 of the Patent Act, which outlines patent eligibility requirements. In the latest episode of IP(DC), a Ropes & Gray podcast series on intellectual property law from the vantage point of Ropes & Gray’s office in Washington, D.C., IP litigation partners Scott McKeown and Matt Rizzolo discussed the proposed legislation, as well as its implications for patent owners and potential defendants.
  • Brian McCabe analyzes the Precidian model, the legality surrounding non-transparent funds and the possible conversion of mutual funds to ETFs on Bloomberg TV’s “ETF IQ.”
• Ropes & Gray appointed asset management partner Greg Davis as co-managing partner of its growing San Francisco and Silicon Valley offices. Mr. Davis will co-lead the Bay Area offices with asset management partner Raj Marphatia.
• Our Washington, D.C. office continues to grow with the addition of Valerie H. Bonham as counsel in the firm’s health care and life sciences practice. Ms. Bonham brings nearly 20 years of experience as a leader in health care, life sciences and public policy at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and is nationally recognized for her experience in research compliance, investigations and bioethics.
• Ropes & Gray received multiple accolades this week related to diversity and inclusion, pro bono, and firm quality of life.
• The firm was named to The National Law Journal’s 2019 “NLJ500 Women’s Scorecard,” which recognizes the best law firms for female attorneys.
• Ropes & Gray made the top-10 list for U.S. pro bono work in The American Lawyer’s “2019 Pro Bono Scorecard,” and ranked number 12 internationally. The firm was also recognized by the Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) for providing pro bono legal services in Illinois.
• In the latest Vault survey of associates, Ropes & Gray received top rankings for diversity and quality of life. For the ninth year in a row, Ropes & Gray ranked number one among U.S. law firms for formal training. The firm also ranked in the top 10 in a number of other categories related to firm culture and professional development.
• Our Chicago summer associates and other firm volunteers participated in a day of service at Cradles to Crayons, an organization that provides children from newborns through age 12 with everyday essentials needed for home, school and play.
• Ropes & Gray’s Women’s Forum launched a new annual speaker series named in honor of Tracy Brown, the firm’s director of HR special projects. The series provides a platform for discussing issues of significance for women lawyers at the firm and in the legal profession at large.
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