Law360 has honored Dentons by recognizing the following four practices as Practice Groups of the Year: Cannabis, Fund Formation, Insurance and Structured Finance. This award shines the spotlight on those practices that helped clients achieve litigation victories and conclude matters of significant importance in 2021.

Receiving this highly sought-after recognition in four areas would not be possible without our clients entrusting us to work on their matters to achieve the best possible results. Below are some of the matters that we assisted clients with in each of the above practices, ultimately leading to these coveted recognitions.

Cannabis: This marks Dentons’ third consecutive Practice Group of the Year recognition in Cannabis thanks to clients’ trust in our abilities. We handled matters including owning the legal theories that enabled Weedmaps to be publicly listed and traded on Nasdaq, an estimated deal value at US$579 million; representing Green Leaf Medical, LLC, in its US$450 million triangular merger with Columbia Care Inc.; and several financings, acquisitions, law suits and regulatory matters on behalf of Devi Holdings Inc.

Fund Formation: On behalf of our clients, Dentons’ Fund Formation practice has distinguished itself in a series of groundbreaking efforts including a historic US$250 million direct investment of tier 1 capital with the nonprofit National Black Bank Foundation and its investment unit, the Black Bank Fund, and work with the Atlanta Hawks NBA franchise to refinance the US$35 million loan construction loan for the Emory Sports Medicine Complex.

Insurance: Client successes that have resulted from trust in Dentons’ Insurance lawyers include serving as lead national counsel to AIG on all of its COVID-19 business interruption claims; representing AIG affiliate Lexington in securing a motion to dismiss in a putative nationwide class action filed in the Western District of Missouri; and serving as National Life Insurance Counsel for Prudential, handing dozens of matters a year.

Structured Finance: Thanks to our clients, matters that led to our recognition in Structured Finance include representing Credit Suisse as initial purchaser in two triple-net lease securitizations issued by Oak Street Real Estate Capital, valued at US$1.7 billion, and advising on 32 out of the 35 triple-net lease securitizations issued in the US over the past 11 years, representing nearly US$13 billion in notes, with US$2.8 billion in notes issued in 2021 alone.