Rita-Anne O'Neill

O'Neill has advised both U.S. and non-U.S. public and private companies on some of their most significant and innovative mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and securities offerings. She also provides general corporate advice on disclosure and governance.

Her experience spans several industries, including apparel, financial institutions, health care and life sciences, semiconductors, telecommunications and transportation. She has worked on a number of transactions for particular clients, including Royal Philips of the Netherlands, Ares Management and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan.

"I have a really long history of representing those clients," O'Neill said. "When you have clients that you've worked with for a long time, you really get to know not just the people, but institutionally, what their hot-button issues are and the tempo on how they like to do a deal."

She has advised Philips, a global health technology company, on several transactions, including its $1 billion acquisition of San Diego-based Volcano Corp., an intravascular imaging company. She also advised Philips in its participation in a $45 million private placement by Corindus Vascular Robotics Inc. of its common stock.

Most recently, O'Neill led a cross-disciplinary team that spanned Sullivan & Cromwell's U.S. offices in Philips' acquisition of WellCentive Inc. The health management software solutions company complements Philips' existing portfolio with cloud-based information technology solutions to import, aggregate and analyze data across hospital and health systems.

O'Neill also has made significant contributions to the community through pro bono work for organizations such as The Valor Academy charter school and Dollies Making A Difference, an organization that sews dolls for children in areas affected by disaster. She also supervises teams of associates in working with The Alliance for Children's Rights on foster care adoptions and foster youth benefits cases.

"It's always been important to me to give back to the community," she said. "I have a way to give back through my skills, but also, for me, one of most rewarding things is working with groups of associates on a project where they get to see how their legal skills can be applied in a much broader context."

— Jennifer Chung Klam