Debevoise & Plimpton LLP is pleased to announce that Sarah Coyne, Uri Herzberg, Ina C. Popova, David L. Portilla, David Sarratt, Thomas Smith and Patrick Taylor will become partners of the firm, effective July 1, 2016.
Sarah Coyne, based in the New York office, is a member of the firm’s Litigation Department and the White Collar & Regulatory Defense Group. She handles a variety of white collar matters and investigations, including those involving financial institutions. Prior to joining the firm in 2015, Ms. Coyne was a federal prosecutor for 14 years. Most recently, Ms. Coyne served as Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of New York, where she was Chief of the Business and Securities Fraud Section. Ms. Coyne clerked for the Hon. Maryanne Trump Barry at the District Court level and at the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. She earned her J.D. in 1998 from New York University School of Law, and received her B.A. from Georgetown University, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, in 1993.
Uri Herzberg, based in the New York office, is a member of the Corporate Department and the Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity Groups. His practice focuses on advising private equity firms and corporations in mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, investments, divestitures and other corporate transactions. Mr. Herzberg joined the firm in 2007. He received a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 2007 as well as a Certificate in Business and Public Policy from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Herzberg received a B.A., cum laude, from Yeshiva University in 2004.
Ina C. Popova, based in the New York office, is a member of the Litigation Department and the International Dispute Resolution Group. She specializes in international arbitration, complex commercial litigation and public international law. Ms. Popova has particular experience in the mining and energy sectors, in which she regularly handles multibillion-dollar disputes involving commercial, environmental and public international law issues across a variety of jurisdictions. She is admitted to the Paris and New York Bars and frequently leads matters in Spanish and French. Ms. Popova joined the firm in 2007. In addition to earning graduate degrees from Harvard Law School and from the University of Cambridge, Ms. Popova received her B.A. with First Class Honours in Law from the University of Cambridge, Trinity College, and her Maîtrise en droit comparé, mention droits anglais et français with high honors from the Université de Paris II Panthéon-Assas. She is a Senior Scholar of Trinity College and was a Hollond Fund Scholar at Harvard Law School.
David L. Portilla, based in the New York office, is a member of the Corporate Department and the Banking Group. His practice focuses on advising international and domestic banking organizations and other financial institutions on regulatory, transactional and governance matters. Mr. Portilla has particular experience in matters relating to financial regulatory reform implementation, including the Volcker Rule, enhanced prudential standards and the prudential regulation of nonbank financial companies. Prior to joining Debevoise in 2013, Mr. Portilla was a senior policy advisor to the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) office. He is fluent in Spanish. Mr. Portilla received his J.D. from Rutgers School of Law with highest honors in 2006, and was inducted into the Order of the Coif. He received a B.A. with honors from Rutgers University in 2002.
David Sarratt, based in the New York office, is a member of the Litigation Department and the White Collar & Regulatory Defense Group. He is an experienced trial lawyer whose practice focuses on white collar criminal defense, internal investigations and complex civil litigation. Mr. Sarratt served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of New York from 2010 to 2014, supervising and participating in a wide variety of investigations and prosecutions, including significant cases involving cybercrime, international terrorism, fraud and racketeering. He successfully tried numerous cases to verdict and briefed and argued appeals in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Mr. Sarratt received his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2004, where he graduated Order of the Coif and was an Articles Editor of the Virginia Law Review. He earned a B.A., Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Virginia in 2000.
Thomas Smith, based in the London office, is a member of the Corporate Department and the Finance and Private Equity Groups. His practice focuses on complex acquisition and leveraged finance transactions (with extensive experience in syndicated bank loan and high-yield transactions), acting for the firm’s private equity and corporate clients. Mr. Smith also advises the firm’s fund clients in raising capital-call facilities and direct lenders in bilateral and syndicated lending. Mr. Smith obtained his degree in law from Nottingham University in 2002, passed the LPC with distinction from Nottingham Law School in 2003 and was admitted as a solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales in 2006.
Patrick Taylor, based in the London office, is a member of the Litigation Department and the International Dispute Resolution Group. His practice focuses on complex commercial and investment treaty arbitration acting for both sovereign and commercial clients across a wide range of sectors, with particularly deep experience in the upstream oil and gas, energy and telecommunications sectors, as well as joint venture, shareholder, production sharing and tax-related disputes. A UK-qualified solicitor and solicitor-advocate, Mr. Taylor has advised and represented clients in high-stakes (often multibillion-dollar) disputes throughout the world and has acted in arbitrations under the rules of ICSID, the LCIA, the ICC, UNCITRAL, the SCC, the Nigerian Arbitration and Conciliation Act and the Milan Chamber of Arbitration. Mr. Taylor graduated with an LL.B. honours law degree from Cambridge University in 2001 and was admitted as a solicitor in England & Wales in 2005.
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP is a premier law firm with market-leading practices, a global perspective and strong New York roots. We deliver effective solutions to our clients’ most important legal challenges, applying clear commercial judgment and a distinctively collaborative approach.