Stroock & Stroock & Lavan

Headquartered in New York, where it boasts the deepest bench, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan also has offices in DC, Miami and Los Angeles. "Stroock has got a good team, and I've seen them involved in some interesting specialty areas," offers a peer. Embellishing on this claim, a client testifies, "Stroock provides comprehensive solutions and strategies to complex municipal labor matters. They are very responsive and efficient and have decades of expertise in the city public sector labor relations."

Illustrating this testimonial, Alan Klinger served as lead counsel for the United Federation of Teachers, recently winning dismissal of a class-action complaint against the client alleging that the client, in its most recently negotiated collective bargaining agreement, breached its duty of fair representation by agreeing to provide retroactive increases only to those who remained active or retired from service. The court found that plaintiffs, a group of former UFT members, had failed to meet the pleading requirement for a claim against an unincorporated association, and rejected the plaintiffs' contention that the UFT acted in a bad faith or discriminatory manner. Cementing his reputation in this field further, Klinger serves as outside counsel for the NYC Municipal Labor Committee in ongoing negotiations and implementation of the City-wide coalition agreement between the Committee and the City in contemplation of significant health care cost savings. A client weighs in on Klinger's behalf: "Alan often acts as lead negotiator and mediator for sensitive and complex matters, and he brings years of experience with this. He and his team excel at tailoring their work to our needs."

New York's Kristopher Hansen is noted for his specialty in the restructuring and bankruptcy arena. Peers in this capacity note, "Kris is doing a lot of work concerning casinos these days. He's becoming something of a go-to for that." Supporting this claim, Hansen currently represents the Ad Hoc Committee holding in excess of $3 billion in first-lien loans issued by Caesars, in connection with highly contentious cases following the company's January 2015 bankruptcy. Hansen also represents Trump Entertainment Resorts in its efforts to obtain financing to prop up its struggling casino. James Bernard, an all-purpose litigator and a frequent recipient of accolades among New York peers, acts as part of a team of law firms representing families of American victims of terrorist attacks found to have been sponsored by Iran. In a 6-2 decision, the US Supreme Court upheld a judgment allowing families of victims of the 1983 Marine barracks bombing in Beirut and other terrorist attacks to collect nearly $2 billion in frozen Iranian funds.

Operating in the firm's Los Angeles office, Julia Strickland obtained an important decision in March 2016 in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, dismissing putative class claims as preempted by the National Bank Act and regulations promulgated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The plaintiff brought state law claims challenging Department Stores National Bank's debt cancellation programs offered in connection with Macy's-branded credit cards, alleging defendants charged her for credit protection without her consent and did not adequately disclose the program's limitations and costs, that the program provided little or no value and that cardholders were "overcharged" based on how the program fees were calculated. The Court held that the OCC regulations preempted all of the plaintiff's claims.