2024 DIVERSITY DATABASE UNDERWRITER Kramer Levin

Rooted in New York, with offices in Silicon Valley, Washington, DC, and Paris, Kramer Levin is a full-service shop with 400 lawyers. The firm practices across dozens of areas with particular strengths in bankruptcy, immigration, litigation, M&A, real estate, and white collar.

Many Eggs, Many Baskets

Fourteen New York attorneys teamed up to start Kramer Levin in 1968. From the start, Kramer Levin was positioned as a full-service firm that didn’t rely on a single hallmark practice or long-standing relationship with one major client. This approach, combined with the firm’s small size, meant that some practice areas were run by only one or two lawyers, but it also meant that Kramer Levin was able to accept litigation, real estate, transactional, tax, and trust and estate assignments. The firm was able to attract and retain partners and associates in its early days because it offered attorneys a chance to work in small teams and build their practices themselves without navigating through the crowd, as can be the case at larger firms.

From Gavels to Distress and Buildings

Kramer Levin has stuck by its diversified practice model. Its litigators handle everything from advertising, commercial, antitrust, real estate, and securities litigation to white collar defense and other matters. Among the firm’s notable matters is the U.S. Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges, which determined that denying same-sex couples the freedom to marry violates the Constitution.

The firm is recognized for its work in restructuring—for good reason. Kramer Levin has been involved in some of the largest and most complex bankruptcies filed in the country, including those of Caesar’s Entertainment, Puerto Rico, and Toys R Us.

Holding a spot within the top 20 of Vault’s Real Estate ranking, Kramer Levin’s real estate practice is also widely recognized. The group advises real estate owners and developers, private equity investors, investment bankers, and hoteliers, among others. Clients include The Related Companies L.P. in the 26-acre Hudson Yards development in Midtown Manhattan and The Walt Disney Company in the sale of its Upper West Side campus and the purchase of a new headquarters in Lower Manhattan.

Rising to the Challenge

Pro bono work isn’t an afterthought at Kramer Levin. The firm was a charter member of Volunteers of Legal Service, Inc., and through its partnership with the organization, Kramer pledges a minimum of 30 hours each year per lawyer. That’s more than 11,000 hours. In addition, Kramer Levin is a signatory of the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge established through the Pro Bono Institute.

Kramer Levin serves a diverse client base of industry leaders across all practices.

In bankruptcy, the firm represents an ad hoc group of first lien lenders to the Diamond Sports Group in a potential debt restructuring. Diamond Sports Group is a subsidiary of regional sports network Sinclair Broadcasting which has broadcasting rights to NBA, NHL and MLB teams including the Brooklyn Nets, Chicago Cubs, and New York Yankees. The firm also serves as counsel to the Unsecured Creditors’ Committees of Rite Aid Corporate and Express Inc.

In corporate, the firm’s securitization practice has recently completed two transactions advancing clean energy: representing ATLAS SP Partners and Citi, financial advisors to Sunnova Energy International, Inc., in connection with the U.S. Department of Energy loan guarantee to make distributed energy resources available to more American homeowners. The securitization practice also represented the structuring agent, placement agent, joint bookrunners and co-managers in connection with the largest solar securitization in history.

Recent litigation wins include a Federal Court’s dismissal of $4+ billion class action against Empower; a dismissal of lender liability claims against Gamma Real Estate Capital and its affiliates over a multibillion-dollar development in Dallas, Texas; and a U.S. District Court’s summary judgment in favor of Sirius XM Radio Inc., ending a six-year-long patent infringement lawsuit.

Finally, Kramer Levin advised Related Cos. in the conversion and sale of the former Neiman Marcus flagship store space at 20 Hudson Yards to Well Fargo in one of the largest commercial property transactions in New York City.

• White Collar Practice Group of the Year, 2023—Law360
• Esoteric Law ABS Law Firm of the Year, 2023, 2024—GlobalCapital
• Appellate Hot List, 2023—National Law Journal
• Pro Bono Scorecard 15 Impactful Pro Bono Matters List, 2023—American Lawyer
• Mansfield Rule 6.0 Certified, 2022—Diversity Lab