Debevoise & Plimpton LLP litigation partners Catherine Amirfar, Helen Cantwell, Susan Gittes, Maura Monaghan, Maeve O’Connor, Ina Popova, Natalie Reid, Shannon Rose Selden and Mary Jo White have been named to Benchmark Litigation’s “Top 250 Women in Litigation” list. The annual list recognizes “the most distinguished women in the world of litigation.”

Since the inception of Benchmark Litigation's "Top 250 Women in Litigation" list in 2013, the firm's partners have been recognized every year for demonstrating its tradition of serving clients at the highest levels and of contributing to the development and advancement of distinguished women leaders.

This year’s nine honorees represent a wide array of litigation expertise:

Catherine Amirfar, Co-Chair of the firm’s International Dispute Resolution Group and the Public International Law Group and a former member of the firm’s Management Committee, routinely represents multinational corporations, sovereign states and international organizations before international arbitration tribunals and U.S. and international courts. From 2014–2016, Ms. Amirfar served as the Counselor on International Law at the U.S. Department of State in the Obama Administration.

Helen Cantwell, Co-Chair of the firm’s White Collar & Regulatory Defense Group, focuses on white collar criminal defense, regulatory enforcement actions and internal investigations for a wide variety of corporations, financial institutions and non-profits. Prior to joining Debevoise, Ms. Cantwell served for eight years as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Susan Gittes’ practice focuses on complex civil litigation and regulatory inquiries and has significant experience in federal and state courts, with a focus on representing insurance companies in a broad range of litigation and regulatory matters and in defending securities and fiduciary duty litigation.

Maura Kathleen Monaghan, Co-Chair of the firm’s Commercial Litigation Group and Healthcare & Life Sciences Group, focuses on a wide range of complex commercial litigation matters, including products liability and mass tort litigation, environmental, healthcare, regulatory and criminal investigations and arbitration.

Maeve O'Connor, Co-Chair of the firm’s Securities Litigation practice and Chair of the firm’s Insurance Litigation practice and a former member of the firm’s Management Committee, specializes in defending securities and fiduciary duty litigation for a wide array of client industries and in representing financial services companies in a range of complex and high-stakes litigation and regulatory matters.

Ina Popova’s practice focuses on international arbitration, international litigation and public international law. Ms. Popova represents both private parties and States in a broad range of international matters. She sits as arbitrator and is admitted to practice in Paris and New York.

Natalie Reid, Co-Chair of the firm’s Public International Law Group and Co-Chair of the Caribbean practice, specializes in international arbitration, public international law and complex commercial litigation matters. Ms. Reid regularly acts as counsel in commercial and treaty arbitrations and represents sovereign states, multinational corporations, international organizations, and non-governmental organizations.

Shannon Rose Selden, Chair of the firm’s Asset Management Litigation practice and Co-Coordinator of the Private Equity Group, has a broad practice representing hedge fund and private equity clients, as plaintiffs and defendants, in complex, high-stakes litigation. Ms. Selden has significant experience as lead counsel in state and federal courts in the full range of matters affecting asset management firms, including merger, securities, contract, corporate governance, fiduciary, financing and debt restructuring disputes.

Mary Jo White, Senior Chair of the firm and leader of the Strategic Crisis Response and Solutions Group, specializes in multifaceted government investigations and white collar, SEC enforcement and internal investigations. Ms. White has decades of experience, having served as Chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and as a well-known private practitioner in high-profile matters.

This year’s honorees led some of the most significant litigation matters and were selected based on several phases of research including review of recent case work, peer reviews and client feedback.