Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom is one of the world's leading law firms, with 23 offices and approximately 1,800 attorneys, serving clients in every major financial center worldwide. The firm's diversified practice enables it to offer solutions to the most challenging legal issues in virtually every area of corporate law, providing the specific legal advice clients need to compete most effectively in a global business environment. With more than 40 distinct areas of practice, the firm's attorneys provide a broad range of legal services across a spectrum of industries. Skadden represents a wide range of clients including approximately 50 percent of the Fortune 250 industrial and service corporations, as well as financial and government entities, start-up companies and nonprofits. For more than 60 years, the firm has advised such entities in many of the most significant corporate and litigation matters worldwide.
Main Areas of Practice:
Antitrust/Competition: Skadden has broad experience counseling clients on antitrust and competition matters in connection with highly complex mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures. The firm's attorneys appear regularly before the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general in connection with proposed business combinations. They also obtain clearance from agencies around the globe, including the EU and China, for highly complex mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures.
Banking & Finance: Skadden represents lenders and borrowers on some of the largest and most complex financings and related transactions worldwide. The firm's clients include some of the world's largest commercial banks, investment banks, insurance companies, public and private pension funds, finance companies, investment and merchant banking firms, private investment funds, and other institutional lenders and investors, as well as LBO sponsors, private equity funds, hedge funds, strategic buyers, borrowers and issuers of securities.
M&A/Corporate: Skadden is a global leader among law firms involved in mergers and acquisitions and other corporate transactions. The firm's transactional experience and breadth of practice, as well as the geographic reach of its offices, have allowed Skadden to maintain its leadership position, representing a broad array of public and private companies, private equity firms and financial sponsors, investment banks, government entities, and other institutions and individuals in almost every type of M&A transaction.
Corporate Restructuring: Skadden serves corporations and their principal creditors and investors by providing innovative, practical legal solutions to clients involved in distressed company situations. The firm's goal is to give effective and expedient solutions, which allow clients to minimize costs, enhance value and properly position themselves for the future. Skadden has advised on some of the most widely publicized corporate restructurings and also has a substantial practice in advising clients in nonjudicial restructurings.
International Arbitration: With attorneys admitted to practice in more than 30 countries and territories, Skadden has established itself as a leading firm in the area of international arbitration. It has advised clients involved in international arbitrations under all major rule systems and before every major arbitral institution. The firm's international arbitration attorneys, many of whom are bilingual, also serve on international arbitration tribunals and advise clients with respect to foreign arbitral awards.
Energy/Project Finance: Skadden represents energy producers, transporters, marketers, distributors and users worldwide. The firm's attorneys provide clients with a full range of legal services – such as corporate, project finance, government regulatory, litigation and legislative services – relating to oil, natural gas, electric power, renewable power and other energy sources.
Litigation/Controversy: Skadden's global litigation/controversy practice encompasses a broad range of general commercial litigation, securities litigation, government enforcement and white collar crime, mass torts, arbitration, trade cases and M&A-related matters. The firm is widely recognized for its expertise with large-scale, bet-the-company matters and other critical litigation issues.
Real Estate: Skadden counsels developers, lenders, investment banks, pension funds, real estate investment trusts, U.S. and international investors, and major corporations in transactions involving the purchase, sale construction, financing, development and management of, as well as investment in, commercial, retail, lodging, industrial and residential projects throughout the U.S., Europe, South America and Asia.
Other Areas of Practice: Environmental law, health care, insurance, intellectual property, international trade, labor and employment and tax.
Recognition:
The 2013 "Best Law Firms" survey as published by
U.S. News ranked Skadden in the top tier nationally in 44 categories, and Law Firm of the Year for Corporate Law: Non-Profit/Charities Law. In 2013,
The American Lawyer's annual "Corporate Scorecard" ranked Skadden first among law firms as Principal Counsel for M&A by value. Additionally, the firm ranked first as REIT Equity Issuer's Counsel by value and tied for first as Issuer's Counsel for non-U.S. IPOs by volume. With 26 rankings, Skadden tied for the highest number overall rankings. Our attorneys received three awards at the
IFLR Americas Awards: "M&A Team of the Year"; "Equity Team of the Year" and "Equity Deal of the Year."
Chambers Global selected Skadden as "Law Firm of the Year: Dispute Resolution" for 2013. In addition, 144 Skadden attorneys were listed among the world's leading lawyers in their 2013 guide. The firm and its lawyers received 71 top-tier rankings. For the second consecutive year, Skadden was named the "Dispute Resolution Team of the Year" at the
Legal Business awards. Skadden swept the three major year-end lists of 2012 M&A legal advisers, finishing first by dollar value of announced deals globally, according to annual rankings published by
Bloomberg,
mergermarket and
Thomson Reuters. Our attorneys are recognized by their clients and peers in various guides including,
IFLR 1000,
Legal 500,
Chambers Global,
Chambers USA and others. In 2013, 225 attorneys worldwide were named to various
Best Lawyers guides.