The ‘well unified and collaborative’ team at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP is noted for its ability to leverage each lawyer’s unique skill sets to ’demonstrate “big picture” understanding, as well as specialized advice within categories of issues’. Among those specialist categories of expertise, the group stands out for its ability to plug into the wider firm’s comprehensive China practice, which is a useful resource in complex China-related reviews. In terms of its industry strong suits, its extensive experience in the energy—particularly nuclear—as well as the technology and government contract spheres are significant drivers of work. Nancy Fischer heads the overall regulatory practice, which includes the international trade unit, and has an emphasis on foreign investment reviews under CFIUS and foreign ownership mitigation for DCSA-cleared facilities. Other key contacts in the Washington DC-based practice include international trade head Stephan Becker; next-generation partner Matthew Rabinowitz; and senior associate Zachary Rozen.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘Pillsbury's team combines the expertise of various related areas. Lawyers are always up to date, pragmatic and act extremely fast.’

  • ‘Nancy Fisher is the lawyer you want to work with when it comes to complicated matters. Extremely reliable, pragmatic and fast.’

  • ‘The team provides great insights tuned for clients in the technology space.’

  • ‘We value the team for its understanding of how the government processes work, but also for its understanding of how companies from my region/country operate, and all in all, what is the bigger picture expectation the company wants to achieve by expanding organically to the US.’

  • ‘Nancy Fischer is available on short notice and enables smooth and agile ways of advancing the process. With deep understanding of the Committee’s regulatory process and expectations, she demonstrates an ability to translate those needs pragmatically to strike a balance delivering a reply.’

  • ‘Pillsbury provides a well-unified and collaborative team that leverages each lawyer’s knowledge base to demonstrate “big picture” understanding, as well as specialized advice within categories of issues.’

  • ‘The primary lawyers I’ve dealt with are Nancy Fischer and Matthew Rabinowitz. They are remarkable; the quality of their advice stands high above their peers in numerous ways; they provide timely, responsive, and detailed guidance on complex CFIUS considerations, all in an easily digestible format.’

  • ‘Nancy Fisher led the CFIUS/foreign investment approval team for us. The entire process is done jointly with opposing counsel and in coordination with foreign counsel - she was able to manage the process highly efficiently, with more insight into important inflection points and the timetable than opposing counsel.’

Key clients

  • Celesta Capital (formerly Walden International)
  • Chevron Technology Ventures
  • Macquarie
  • Bluefors Oy
  • SK Inc.
  • Ultisat (formerly Speedcast)
  • Wartsila Corporation
  • Next Fifteen Communications Group

Work highlights

  • Successfully represented Qeexo in connection with its acquisition by Japan-based TDK Corporation.
  • Successfully represented Bluefors Oy before CFIUS regarding its acquisition of Cryomech.
  • Successfully represented SK before CFIUS concerning an investment and technology sharing arrangement with TerraPower, a nuclear reactor design and development enginering company.

Lawyers

Leading lawyers
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Next Generation Partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Stephan Becker, Nancy Fischer

Other key lawyers

Matthew Rabinowitz, Zachary Rozen, Christopher Wall, Aaron Hutman