The Legal 500

King & Spalding is a global law firm with more than 800 lawyers in Abu Dhabi, Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Dubai, Frankfurt, Geneva, Houston, London, Moscow, New York, Paris, Riyadh, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Singapore and Washington, DC. It is one of only 20 firms globally to have been in continuous operation for more than 125 years, and has achieved success for clients in more than 160 countries across six continents.

Main areas of practice

Antitrust: Tries cases to verdict and defends clients against criminal investigations, opt-out group actions, class actions, appellate matters and other antitrust litigation.

Commercial litigation: Experienced in issues of antitrust, product liability, mass tort, patents and trademarks, class action certification, securities law, franchise law, white-collar defense, and consumer fraud.

Finance: More than 50 lawyers located in offices across the United States, Europe and Middle East represent lenders, investors, funds and borrowers in finance and other commercial transactions.

Employee benefits and executive compensation: Advises on employee benefit plans and executive compensation programs and the related funding vehicles.

E-discovery: Serves as lead national discovery counsel for Fortune 50 companies in the banking, energy, pharmaceutical, medical device, telecommunications, chemical, manufacturing and tobacco industries.

Energy: Informs clients on a spectrum of transactional, regulatory, litigation and arbitration matters in the oil and gas, power and mining industries.

Environmental: Assists clients with virtually every type of environmental issue – including regulatory and compliance advice, permit appeals, enforcement actions, and property damage claims.

FDA and life sciences: Represents pharmaceutical, medical device, biotechnology, healthcare technology companies and food manufacturers in a range of regulatory, compliance, policy and litigation matters.

Financial restructuring: Directs on reorganizations, including in-court and out-of-court debt restructurings, bankruptcy and insolvency litigation, and distressed asset mergers and acquisitions.

Global transactions: Counsels clients through the entire project development process, from concept to ribbon-cutting, with particular emphasis on the energy and transportation sectors.

Government advocacy and public policy: Supports clients in managing their interactions with the federal government including congressional investigations, international, and ethics and election law.

Healthcare: As one of the largest practices in the country, the firm is praised for its excellence in transactional, litigation and regulatory representation of clients across the spectrum of healthcare.

Intellectual property: Aids clients with the development and strategic planning needed to handle patent and trademark prosecution and intellectual property litigation matters that stretch across borders.

International arbitration: Highly experienced in handling cases before major arbitral institutions such as the ICSID, ICC, LCIA and AAA, as well as under UNCITRAL and other ad hoc rules.

International trade and WTO: Over 40 lawyers and consultants handling a wide range of international trade and customs matters for US and non-US clients.

Labor and employment: Provides labor and employment services to employers ranging from preventive advice and training to litigation and representation under federal and state labor and employment laws.

Mergers and acquisitions: Covers acquisitions of public and private companies, tender offers, joint ventures and partnering arrangements, purchases and sales of divisions, and takeover preparation and defense.

Pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical devices: More than 125 of the firm’s lawyers and professionals devote all or a substantial portion of their practices to clients in these industries, with specialized experience at every stage of the product life cycle.

Private equity and investment funds: Draws on the lawyers’ extensive experience in fund formation, mergers and acquisitions, leveraged finance, Islamic finance, securities offerings, tax and restructuring.

Real estate: Provides advice on a complete range of commercial real estate transactions. The real estate capital markets practice is known for creative structuring of mergers and acquisitions and complex equity and debt financing transactions.

White collar: Represents corporations and individuals in complex federal and state criminal investigations, internal investigations and congressional investigations.

Tax: Covers range of federal income tax issues, with particularly extensive experience in the corporate, partnership and international practice areas.

Tort litigation: Offers large-firm litigation resources and lawyers who have tried high-exposure tort cases, including in some of the most plaintiff-friendly jurisdictions in the US.

International practice

The firm’s international practices advise clients in cross-border mergers and acquisitions, trade and customs, e-commerce, energy, Islamic finance and investment, intellectual property, international trademarks, structured finance, and international arbitration and mediation. The firm has undertaken extensive work in Latin America, East Asia and in the Middle East, as well as for foreign companies investing in the United States.

Chairman: Robert D Hays Jr

Other Offices:
Abu Dhabi
Dubai
Frankfurt
Geneva
London
Moscow
Paris
Saudi Arabia
Singapore