The Legal 500

From offices strategically located in the world’s principal financial centers, Fried Frank serves as counsel to many of the world’s largest companies, financial institutions and investment firms. It is recognized for its ability to deploy well-configured, cross-border teams that provide the depth of knowledge, breadth of experience and responsive service that clients require to meet their critical business objectives. Firm attorneys work together across practice areas and jurisdictions and regularly advise clients in all regions including the US, the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Types of work undertaken

Antitrust and competition: The practice regularly advises Fortune 500 companies around the world on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, government investigations, and civil and criminal trial and appellate litigation.

Asset management: The practice offers a full range of services to financial institutions and private investment funds and advises on hedge funds and private equity funds, infrastructure funds, funds of funds and mezzanine funds.

Banking and finance: The practice stands out for its role in all pieces of the capital structure, playing a key role in the creation of innovative financing structures.

Bankruptcy and restructuring: The firm regularly represents a wide range of clients in both formal bankruptcies and out-of-court restructurings.

Benefits and compensation: The practice offers counsel with respect to the structuring and implementation of a wide range of compensation and benefit plans and programs.

Capital markets: Represents issuers, underwriters, financial sponsors, selling stockholders, initial purchasers and dealer-managers on a global basis in debt and equity securities offerings and related acquisition finance and private equity transactions.

Enforcement and investigations: The practice serves public companies and their directors, officers and employees, broker-dealers, investment advisers, hedge funds, accounting and legal professionals in connection with government investigations involving securities and corporate law disputes.

Intellectual property and technology: Fried Frank brings a sophisticated, multi-disciplinary approach to matters involving patents, copyrights, trademarks and other intellectual property rights (IPR).

International trade and investment: The practice regularly represents leading US and international investors, operating companies, and boards of directors in transactional, regulatory, enforcement and dispute resolution matters worldwide.

Litigation: Fried Frank litigators in the US, Europe and Asia represent global corporations and financial institutions in their most challenging, complex and important matters. The firm’s attorneys are active in trial and appellate matters in federal and state courts, and its diverse practice runs the gamut from agency, state and federal court cases, to grand jury investigations and arbitrations.

Mergers and acquisitions: Fried Frank has handled some of the largest and most complex US and global deals for more than three decades and represents the full spectrum of M&A players.

Private equity: The practice deals with private equity transactions and regularly provides counsel to prominent fund sponsors and investors on the full range of their investment-related activities, including fund formations, leveraged buyouts, consortium bids, syndications, and exit strategies.

Real estate: The practice counsels clients on the acquisitions and disposition of single assets and portfolios, distressed real estate and workouts, mortgage and mezzanine financing and restructuring, development and construction, leasing, joint ventures, real estate investment trusts and real estate litigation.

Tax: The practice encompasses all principal forms of corporate transactions, including mergers, acquisitions and dispositions, hedge fund and private equity fund formations, acquisitions and dispositions.

Chairperson Valerie Ford Jacob

Senior Operating Partner Justin Spendlove

Other Offices:
Frankfurt
Hong Kong
London
Paris
Shanghai

Number of Partners (US): 119
Number of Other Fee-earners (US): 337
Total Fee-earning Staff (US): 456