Shearman & Sterling LLP > London, England > Firm Profile

Shearman & Sterling LLP > Firm Profile

Shearman & Sterling has a long and distinguished history of supporting its clients wherever they do business, from major financial centers to emerging and growth markets, for 150 years. The firm’s global presence and deep understanding of its clients’ businesses and the industries they operate in, drives the firm’s work to provide outstanding legal service and commercial advice.

As a global, elite law firm, Shearman & Sterling represents many of the world’s leading corporations and major financial institutions, as well as emerging growth companies, governments and state-owned enterprises, on ground-breaking, precedent-setting matters.

The firm leverages the use of smart technology in all of its client work through its innovative data management system, Shearman Analytics, which provides a leading edge in staffing matters leanly and effectively. In addition to driving value for clients, the data system also provides powerful predictive insights to help clients achieve their business goals.

In all matters, Shearman & Sterling is dedicated to serving clients at the highest level. The firm’s lawyers are true business partners to their clients and pride themselves on forming long-standing working relationships, while navigating shifting regulations and market developments, to help clients succeed.

Main areas of practice
Antitrust: Shearman & Sterling’s lawyers have market-leading experience dealing with all aspects of US and EU antitrust law and represent clients on some of the world’s most challenging, multi-jurisdictional antitrust cases. These include complex mergers and acquisitions in the United States, Europe and other jurisdictions; unilateral conduct; antitrust/IP interface; cartel investigations; antitrust compliance and counseling; State aid and privatizations; market investigations; and litigation, including in antitrust class action lawsuits and jury trials.

Capital markets: As capital markets have developed and diversified, the firm has helped its clients navigate these important changes and take advantage of opportunities. Over the years, Shearman & Sterling lawyers have had a prominent role in many of the developments that have transformed the capital markets, most notably the growth of the high yield market, the globalization of capital markets and the increase in worldwide privatizations.

Compensation, governance and ERISA: As regulatory and shareholder scrutiny intensifies, public and private companies, corporate boards and committees regularly turn to Shearman & Sterling’s compensation, governance and ERISA lawyers to help them successfully manage market demands and carefully navigate complex and sometimes conflicting regulations and stakeholder interests. Clients depend on the firm for practical, insightful and strategic guidance to help them stay ahead of the curve across all industry segments.

Derivatives and structured products: The firm’s practice is widely recognized for representing the full spectrum of market participants across the complete range of derivatives products and asset classes. It is the breadth of their client base, the depth of their product experience and their true cross‐border capabilities that distinguish their practice from others in the market. With significant high-end capabilities in both the United States and the United Kingdom, they advise clients on the full range of structural, legal and documentation considerations that arise in derivatives and structured product transactions across all major asset classes, including credit, equity, fixed-income, currency and commodity-linked instruments.

Emerging growth: From the back-of-the-envelope to the opening bell, Shearman & Sterling provides strategic advice for each stage of growth. For a promising idea to grow into a successful company, entrepreneurs need insightful, business-minded counsel that can keep up with the pace of innovation. Collaborating side-by-side, they know their clients’ businesses. The firm’s lawyers provide tailored, cutting-edge solutions to emerging growth challenges, working with their clients as their needs change over time across capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property, litigation, compensation, governance and ERISA and other complex areas.

Finance: The firm’s finance practice helps companies and lenders successfully navigate all aspects of the bank financing process and obtain the best possible outcomes. The firm routinely handle cross-border financings and provide comprehensive advice to clients who need both bank and bond financings by creating tailored solutions to address particular financing needs, whether asset-based, leveraged or investment-grade. The firm work closely with their capital markets lawyers, particularly those focused on the high yield market, and have a long tradition of using a variety of securitization structures.

Financial institutions advisory and financial regulatory: Shearman & Sterling’s market-leading financial regulatory practice serves their clients’ businesses around the world. This focus on regulatory activity across geographies and the excellence of their US, UK and European practices in particular, make them the international counsel of choice for clients with difficult regulatory challenges in their home jurisdictions that are also seeking to meet global best practices. Backed by clear technical advice and strong relationships with regulators, the firm advise clients on the laws and regulations of the world’s key financial and commercial centers.

Financial restructuring and insolvency: Shearman & Sterling’s financial restructuring and insolvency practice represents stakeholders across the full spectrum of restructuring matters. The firm’s global team has a wealth of experience advising on complex domestic and cross-border restructurings, including some of the most high-profile transactions of recent years. The firm combine a commercial approach with technical expertise and work in partnership with their clients to navigate the legal, political and business landscapes in which they operate. The work closely with other practice groups, leveraging expertise across products, sectors and industries to provide innovative and effective advice.

Intellectual property transactions: As the most valuable corporate assets become increasingly intangible, it is essential to identify and solve intellectual property-related issues arising in complex corporate transactions. Clients look to their intellectual property transactions practice for guidance on intellectual property issues arising in all types of corporate and financial transactions.

International arbitration: Shearman & Sterling’s international arbitration team provides advice and advocacy to companies, States and State entities in investment treaty and commercial arbitrations conducted in accordance with all major international arbitration rules. The multilingual, multicultural team is widely regarded as one of the very best on the market. Because of the firm’s strategic view and thorough knowledge of arbitration processes and comparative law, clients turn to the firm for their most critical matters. They work together with their clients, ahead of and throughout the dispute, to devise and implement a strategy that meets their objectives and leads to the optimal resolution of their thorniest legal problems.

Investment funds: The firm’s full-service investment funds team is led by lawyers based in New York, London, Hong Kong, Beijing and Tokyo, with support from a global network of offices. By combining their multidisciplinary knowledge with a globally integrated approach, the firm provide a comprehensive range of investment funds services to clients on a worldwide basis. The firm have extensive experience assisting fund sponsors and investors across the Americas, Asia, Europe and Africa in finding innovative solutions to the challenges they face. The firm are skilled at reconciling complex regulatory and tax regimes with the competing requirements of fund sponsors, their investment strategies and their target investors.

Litigation: Shearman & Sterling’s litigation group is strongly positioned to counsel and protect clients in today’s challenging environment. With more than 130 attorneys in the United States, Europe and Asia, their litigation team is ready to assist in any crisis, whether the adversary is a government regulator, a competitor, or a well-funded class action attorney. The firm’s lawyers have experience in a wide range of substantive areas including securities, criminal law enforcement, antitrust, commercial disputes, intellectual property and arbitration. The firm are trial-ready and trial-tested. The firm’s litigation partners include several former prosecutors who have tried dozens of jury trials in United States courts. Their team regularly represents parties in major trials in state and federal courts, and they are equally strong in the arbitration area, handling numerous contested proceedings every year.

Mergers and acquisitions: With M&A lawyers on the ground across the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, their team advises both principals and their financial advisors on the full spectrum of domestic and cross-border public and private mergers and acquisitions deals, whether negotiated or unsolicited. Clients rely on their team to guide them through transactions that will ultimately transform their organizations. Corporations and financial sponsors trust that the firm understand their business needs and will offer pragmatic and solutions-oriented advice, negotiate aggressively on their behalf and provide focused execution throughout each deal.

Privacy and data protection: Shearman & Sterling’s privacy and data protection practice is a destination for clients – from startups to multinational corporations alike – seeking advice on every aspect of privacy laws and regulations, as well as incident prevention and response. The firm’s global privacy and data protection team is well-known for its actionable intelligence and data-driven solutions. The firm’s cross-disciplinary and responsive team takes a practical approach and provides global compliance strategies and solutions for international data transfers, product counseling for new and enhanced product launches, and assistance with data security breaches.

Private client: Individuals, family offices, privately owned companies and charitable organizations, both in the United States and across the globe, turn to Shearman & Sterling for their extensive experience in issues affecting private clients. Drawing on a multidisciplinary team of lawyers dedicated to serving the unique needs of family offices and family businesses, they also represent clients in corporate, regulatory, real estate, tax and litigation matters.

Project development and finance: Shearman & Sterling has a market-leading project development and finance practice. The team has played a leading role at every stage in the procurement, structuring, development, financing, operations purchase and sale of major infrastructure projects globally, including oil and gas (upstream, pipelines, LNG, refineries and petrochemicals), mining and metals, transportation (rail, roads, airports and bridges), thermal, nuclear and renewable (including wind, solar, geothermal and hydro) power, and power infrastructure (including transmission). Clients rely on th firm to help them achieve their most ambitious goals. Many of these projects are unique, innovative or first-of-their-kind.

Public international law: Public international law is increasingly becoming a significant feature in international commerce. Issues that traditionally arose in the context of State-to-State relations, are now raised in the context of international commercial and investment disputes. They may concern, for example, natural resource development, infrastructure programs or project financing. Their practice includes both advisory and advocacy work on all aspects of public international law.

Real estate: The firm’s real estate practice assists clients in achieving their strategic goals around the world, partnering with private and institutional investors, developers, owners, lenders and underwriters in real estate joint ventures, financings, development projects, leasing, and acquisitions and dispositions. The firm’s clients value their breadth and depth of experience in regional, national and international markets and through decades of market cycles. Regardless of where their clients are located across the globe, they find innovative ways for them to achieve their objectives.

Special situations and capital solutions: Shearman & Sterling’s special situations and capital solutions team of partners works across practice groups to develop innovative solutions to capital structure and other complex problems. Each member of their interdisciplinary team—including capital markets, leveraged finance and direct lending, restructuring, litigation, mergers and acquisitions and Tax—has the experience to address the issues that arise in this unique context and spends a substantial amount of their time working with many of the world’s leading hedge funds, private equity funds, direct lenders, CLOs and other institutional investors.

Tax: Ranking among the leading advisors in domestic and international tax, Shearman & Sterling’s tax practice plays an integral role in the firm’s corporate and cross-border practice and provides tax capability in France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. Clients regularly entrust the firm with their most complex and strategic tax matters, resulting in their involvement in groundbreaking transactions throughout the world. The firm also advise clients with respect to a full range of tax controversies and disputes.

We leverage the use of smart technology in all our client work. Our innovative data management system, Shearman Analytics, gives us a leading edge in staffing matters leanly and effectively, driving value for our clients. We also use the data to provide powerful predictive insights for our clients.

In all matters, we at Shearman & Sterling are dedicated to serving our clients at the highest level. We consider ourselves true business partners to our clients and pride ourselves on forming long-standing working relationships, navigating shifting regulations and market developments to help you reach your business goals.

For further information, please visit www.shearman.com.

Lawyer Profiles

Photo	Name	Position	Profile
	John Adams	Partner	View Profile
	Paul Balaam	Counsel	View Profile
	Phil Baynes	Partner	View Profile
	Alex Bevan	Partner	View Profile
	Simon Burrows	Partner	View Profile
	Ben Burton	Counsel	View Profile
	Patrick Clancy	Of Counsel	View Profile
	Sara Couling	Partner	View Profile
	Sanjeev Dhuna	Partner	View Profile
	Simon Dodds	Of Counsel	View Profile
	Thomas Donegan	Partner	View Profile
	Karla Dudek	Counsel	View Profile
	Kristel Fournier-O’Connor	Counsel	View Profile
	Kevin Heverin	Partner	View Profile
	Gordon Houseman	Partner	View Profile
	Trevor Ingram	Partner	View Profile
	Simon Letherman	Partner	View Profile
	Alastair Livesey	Counsel	View Profile
	Ward McKimm	Europe and Middle East Regional Managing Partner	View Profile
	Maegen Morrison	Partner	View Profile
	Michael Mountain	Partner	View Profile
	Matthew Readings	Partner	View Profile
	Barney Reynolds	Partner	View Profile
	Jo Rickard	Of Counsel	View Profile
	Michael Scargill	Counsel	View Profile
	Shameer Shah	Partner	View Profile
	Matthew Skinner	Partner	View Profile
	Mark Steenson	Counsel	View Profile
	Paul Strecker	Partner	View Profile
	Jonathan Swil	Partner	View Profile
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	James Webber	Partner	View Profile
	Lauren Winter	Counsel	View Profile
	Nick Withers	Partner	View Profile
	Alex Wood	Of Counsel	View Profile

Shearman & Sterling LLP > Firm Profile

Senior Partner: Adam Hakki

Global Managing Partners: George Casey, Doreen E. Lilienfeld

Global Operations Partner: Frederic Sosnick

Number of lawyers worldwide: 700+

The Firm:
Shearman & Sterling has a long and distinguished history of supporting its clients wherever they do business, from major financial centers to emerging and growth markets, for 150 years. The firm’s global presence and deep understanding of its clients’ businesses and the industries they operate in, drives the firm’s work to provide outstanding legal service and commercial advice.

As a global, elite law firm, Shearman & Sterling represents many of the world’s leading corporations and major financial institutions, as well as emerging growth companies, governments and state-owned enterprises, on ground-breaking, precedent-setting matters.

The firm leverages the use of smart technology in all of its client work through its innovative data management system, Shearman Analytics, which provides a leading edge in staffing matters leanly and effectively. In addition to driving value for clients, the data system also provides powerful predictive insights to help clients achieve their business goals.

In all matters, Shearman & Sterling is dedicated to serving clients at the highest level. The firm’s lawyers are true business partners to their clients and pride themselves on forming long-standing working relationships, while navigating shifting regulations and market developments, to help clients succeed.

Principal Areas of Work:

Antitrust:

Shearman & Sterling’s lawyers have market-leading experience dealing with all aspects of U.S. and EU antitrust law and represent clients on some of the world’s most challenging, multi-jurisdictional antitrust cases. These include complex mergers and acquisitions in the United States, Europe and other jurisdictions; unilateral conduct; antitrust/IP interface; cartel investigations; antitrust compliance and counseling; State aid and privatizations; market investigations; and litigation, including in antitrust class action lawsuits and jury trials.

Capital Markets:

As capital markets have developed and diversified, the firm has helped its clients navigate these important changes and take advantage of opportunities. Over the years, Shearman & Sterling lawyers have had a prominent role in many of the developments that have transformed the capital markets, most notably the growth of the high yield market, the globalization of capital markets and the increase in worldwide privatizations.

Compensation, Governance & ERISA:

As regulatory and shareholder scrutiny intensifies, public and private companies, corporate boards and committees regularly turn to Shearman & Sterling’s Compensation, Governance & ERISA lawyers to help them successfully manage market demands and carefully navigate complex and sometimes conflicting regulations and stakeholder interests. Clients depend on the firm for practical, insightful and strategic guidance to help them stay ahead of the curve across all industry segments.

Derivatives & Structured Products:

The firm’s practice is widely recognized for representing the full spectrum of market participants across the complete range of derivatives products and asset classes. It is the breadth of their client base, the depth of their product experience and their true cross‐border capabilities that distinguish their practice from others in the market. With significant high-end capabilities in both the United States and the United Kingdom, they advise clients on the full range of structural, legal and documentation considerations that arise in derivatives and structured product transactions across all major asset classes, including credit, equity, fixed-income, currency and commodity-linked instruments.

Emerging Growth:

From the back-of-the-envelope to the opening bell, Shearman & Sterling provides strategic advice for each stage of growth. For a promising idea to grow into a successful company, entrepreneurs need insightful, business-minded counsel that can keep up with the pace of innovation. Collaborating side-by-side, they know their clients’ businesses. The firm’s lawyers provide tailored, cutting-edge solutions to emerging growth challenges, working with their clients as their needs change over time across Capital Markets, Mergers & Acquisitions, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Compensation, Governance & ERISA and other complex areas.

Finance:

The firm’s finance practice helps companies and lenders successfully navigate all aspects of the bank financing process and obtain the best possible outcomes. The firm routinely handle cross-border financings and provide comprehensive advice to clients who need both bank and bond financings by creating tailored solutions to address particular financing needs, whether asset-based, leveraged or investment-grade. The firm work closely with their capital markets lawyers, particularly those focused on the high yield market, and have a long tradition of using a variety of securitization structures.

Financial Institutions Advisory & Financial Regulatory:

Shearman & Sterling’s market-leading financial regulatory practice serves their clients’ businesses around the world. This focus on regulatory activity across geographies and the excellence of their U.S., U.K. and European practices in particular, make them the international counsel of choice for clients with difficult regulatory challenges in their home jurisdictions that are also seeking to meet global best practices. Backed by clear technical advice and strong relationships with regulators, the firm advise clients on the laws and regulations of the world’s key financial and commercial centers.

Financial Restructuring & Insolvency:

Shearman & Sterling’s Financial Restructuring & Insolvency practice represents stakeholders across the full spectrum of restructuring matters. The firm’s global team has a wealth of experience advising on complex domestic and cross-border restructurings, including some of the most high-profile transactions of recent years. The firm combine a commercial approach with technical expertise and work in partnership with their clients to navigate the legal, political and business landscapes in which they operate. The work closely with other practice groups, leveraging expertise across products, sectors and industries to provide innovative and effective advice.

Intellectual Property Transactions:

As the most valuable corporate assets become increasingly intangible, it is essential to identify and solve intellectual property-related issues arising in complex corporate transactions. Clients look to their Intellectual Property Transactions practice for guidance on intellectual property issues arising in all types of corporate and financial transactions.

International Arbitration:

Shearman & Sterling’s international arbitration team provides advice and advocacy to companies, States and State entities in investment treaty and commercial arbitrations conducted in accordance with all major international arbitration rules. The multilingual, multicultural team is widely regarded as one of the very best on the market. Because of the firm’s strategic view and thorough knowledge of arbitration processes and comparative law, clients turn to the firm for their most critical matters. They work together with their clients, ahead of and throughout the dispute, to devise and implement a strategy that meets their objectives and leads to the optimal resolution of their thorniest legal problems.

Investment Funds:

The firm’s full-service investment funds team is led by lawyers based in New York, London, Hong Kong, Beijing and Tokyo, with support from a global network of offices. By combining their multidisciplinary knowledge with a globally integrated approach, the firm provide a comprehensive range of investment funds services to clients on a worldwide basis. The firm have extensive experience assisting fund sponsors and investors across the Americas, Asia, Europe and Africa in finding innovative solutions to the challenges they face. The firm are skilled at reconciling complex regulatory and tax regimes with the competing requirements of fund sponsors, their investment strategies and their target investors.

Litigation:

Shearman & Sterling’s Litigation Group is strongly positioned to counsel and protect clients in today’s challenging environment. With more than 130 attorneys in the United States, Europe and Asia, their litigation team is ready to assist in any crisis, whether the adversary is a government regulator, a competitor, or a well-funded class action attorney. The firm’s lawyers have experience in a wide range of substantive areas including securities, criminal law enforcement, antitrust, commercial disputes, intellectual property and arbitration. The firm are trial-ready and trial-tested. The firm’s litigation partners include several former prosecutors who have tried dozens of jury trials in United States courts. Their team regularly represents parties in major trials in state and federal courts, and they are equally strong in the arbitration area, handling numerous contested proceedings every year.

Mergers & Acquisitions:

With M&A lawyers on the ground across the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, their team advises both principals and their financial advisors on the full spectrum of domestic and cross-border public and private mergers and acquisitions deals, whether negotiated or unsolicited. Clients rely on their team to guide them through transactions that will ultimately transform their organizations. Corporations and financial sponsors trust that the firm understand their business needs and will offer pragmatic and solutions-oriented advice, negotiate aggressively on their behalf and provide focused execution throughout each deal.

Privacy & Data Protection:

Shearman & Sterling’s privacy and data protection practice is a destination for clients – from startups to multinational corporations alike – seeking advice on every aspect of privacy laws and regulations, as well as incident prevention and response. The firm’s global privacy & data protection team is well-known for its actionable intelligence and data-driven solutions. The firm’s cross-disciplinary and responsive team takes a practical approach and provides global compliance strategies and solutions for international data transfers, product counseling for new and enhanced product launches, and assistance with data security breaches.

Private Client:

Individuals, family offices, privately owned companies and charitable organizations, both in the United States and across the globe, turn to Shearman & Sterling for their extensive experience in issues affecting private clients. Drawing on a multidisciplinary team of lawyers dedicated to serving the unique needs of family offices and family businesses, they also represent clients in corporate, regulatory, real estate, tax and litigation matters.

Project Development & Finance:

Shearman & Sterling has a market-leading project development and finance practice. The team has played a leading role at every stage in the procurement, structuring, development, financing, operations purchase and sale of major infrastructure projects globally, including oil and gas (upstream, pipelines, LNG, refineries and petrochemicals), mining and metals, transportation (rail, roads, airports and bridges), thermal, nuclear and renewable (including wind, solar, geothermal and hydro) power, and power infrastructure (including transmission). Clients rely on th firm to help them achieve their most ambitious goals. Many of these projects are unique, innovative or first-of-their-kind.

Public International Law:

Public international law is increasingly becoming a significant feature in international commerce. Issues that traditionally arose in the context of State-to-State relations, are now raised in the context of international commercial and investment disputes. They may concern, for example, natural resource development, infrastructure programs or project financing. Their practice includes both advisory and advocacy work on all aspects of public international law.

Real Estate:

The firm’s real estate practice assists clients in achieving their strategic goals around the world, partnering with private and institutional investors, developers, owners, lenders and underwriters in real estate joint ventures, financings, development projects, leasing, and acquisitions and dispositions. The firm’s clients value their breadth and depth of experience in regional, national and international markets and through decades of market cycles. Regardless of where their clients are located across the globe, they find innovative ways for them to achieve their objectives.

Special Situations & Capital Solutions:

Shearman & Sterling’s special situations and capital solutions team of partners works across practice groups to develop innovative solutions to capital structure and other complex problems. Each member of their interdisciplinary team—including Capital Markets, Leveraged Finance and Direct Lending, Restructuring, Litigation, Mergers & Acquisitions and Tax—has the experience to address the issues that arise in this unique context and spends a substantial amount of their time working with many of the world’s leading hedge funds, private equity funds, direct lenders, CLOs and other institutional investors.

Tax:

Ranking among the leading advisors in domestic and international tax, Shearman & Sterling’s tax practice plays an integral role in the firm’s corporate and cross-border practice and provides tax capability in France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. Clients regularly entrust the firm with their most complex and strategic tax matters, resulting in their involvement in groundbreaking transactions throughout the world. The firm also advise clients with respect to a full range of tax controversies and disputes.

Legal Briefings

• The UK financial restructuring market

  The last two years have seen significant developments and unexpected turns in the financial restructuring market. The impact of the Covid pandemic precipitated an immediate and significant uptick in the level of corporates facing underperformance and distress, only to be followed in 2021 by an incredibly ‘hot’ financing market and significant drop-off in corporate default …

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Comparative Guides

• United States: Securitisation

  Published: March 2024

  Authors: Bjorn BjerkeCorey A. Reis

  This country-specific Q&A provides an overview of Securitisation laws and regulations applicable in United States.