CHICAGO - Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP is pleased to announce that the Legal 500 United States 2008 edition has ranked five of its practices among the nation’s best. Legal 500 United States lists Katten as a recommended law firm for Finance: Bank Lending for the Midwest; Alternative/Hedge Fund Formation and Management; Mergers, Acquisitions and Buyouts for the Midwest; Real Estate: Transactions and Finance for Illinois; and Tax: Domestic Tax for the Central Region.

Legal 500’s team of experienced researchers speaks to thousands of law firm commercial clients every year. Its Law Firm Recommendations are based largely on what those clients say, as well as opinions solicited from thousands of rival commercial lawyers. In addition, Legal 500 acquires confidential information about the client lists of major firms, and the transactions and deals in which they have been involved. Firms are included in the Legal 500 guides based on merit alone. It is not possible for a firm to buy its way into the editorial section of the guide.

 

Finance: Bank Lending for the Midwest

In recommending Katten in Finance: Bank Lending for the Midwest, Legal 500 quoted a number of the firm’s clients who classified Katten as “one of the leaders in the middle market leveraged lending market…[offering] pragmatic and sensitive advice. They really understand the market, and importantly don’t hold out for abstract points, which may unduly hold up the deal. The firm’s professionalism and level of representation, including overall cost, is the best in the business.”

 

Alternative/Hedge Fund Formation and Management

In recommending Katten in the area of Alternative/Hedge Fund Formation and Management, Legal 500 points to client comments that Katten’s hedge fund formation practice “has a very broad scope” and that its “services are quite comprehensive.” The guide also notes that the firm’s investment funds practice “is highly rated and considered good value by clients.” One client mentions that Katten attorneys “have the ability to be creative and practical,” and another notes that the practice “provides good judgment and good advice based on that judgment. When it comes to issues of market timing, out-of-hours trading or whatever, they are accessible.”

 

Mergers, Acquisitions and Buyouts for the Midwest

Legal 500 recommends Katten for Mergers, Acquisitions and Buyouts for the Midwest on the strength of client comments about Katten’s “depth of capability,” and that its practice is “phenomenal” and “responsive” and produces “high-quality work.” The guide also points to the firm’s “national assortment of offices in strategically important locations, including New York, which points at a degree of national capability.”

 

Real Estate: Transactions and Finance for Illinois

Legal 500 highlights Katten’s Chicago roots, which it says “provide a strong presence in the region’s commercial real estate market, although the Illinois office’s expertise has grown well beyond the ‘full spectrum’ of local property deals as the firm has expanded nationwide.” It also notes that clients consider the group to be “responsive, expert and professional” and that it remains “recommended unreservedly” by clients.

 

Tax: Domestic Tax for the Central Region

In recommending Katten in Domestic Tax for the Central Region, Legal 500 describes the firm as “competently and expertly support[ing] the firm’s corporate and finance teams, frequently acting as special counsel to banks and other financial institutions.” It also notes Katten’s “particular expertise…in the real estate sector and, working with the public finance practice group, in the creation of tax-exempt structures in the healthcare and not-for-profit sectors.” Legal 500 comments that Katten’s tax practice is marked as “responsive and business-oriented” and attracts praise because “they’re looking for solutions.”