Sidley Austin LLP > Boston, United States > Firm Profile

Sidley Austin LLP > The Legal 500 Rankings

M&A/corporate and commercial > Shareholder activism Tier 1

Clients appreciate the ‘extremely nuanced‘ advice from the team at Sidley Austin LLP, which handles the gamut of shareholder activism matters for board members. One client dubs leadership duo Kai Liekefett and Derek Zaba ‘two of the best lawyers in America‘, lauded for ‘their ability to see around all dangerous corners and guide corporate strategy to the most successful outcome‘. Liekefett is based in New York and focuses exclusively on shareholder activism and takeover defense. In two decades of practice, he has worked in the UK, Germany, Hong Kong, and Japan, and is one of the most prolific advisors on proxy contests, including a high percentage of the market’s late-stage contests. Zaba, who is based at the Palo Alto office, also fully dedicates his practice to shareholder activism and has quickly established himself as one of the go-to lawyers in the field. Beth Berg (Chicago) is a senior figure with broad corporate law expertise, younger partners Leonard Wood (Houston) and Jessica Wood (New York) are also active in the shareholder activism space, and the New York office was further bolstered in January 2024 by the promotion to partner of Reuben Zaramian, who focuses on shareholder activism and corporate governance.

Dispute resolution > Appellate: courts of appeals / Appellate: supreme courts (states and federal)

Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: consumer products (including tobacco) Tier 3

Environment > Environment: transactional Tier 3

Finance > Structured finance: securitization Tier 3

Media, technology and telecoms > Cyber law (including data privacy and data protection) Tier 3

The privacy and cybersecurity team at Sidley Austin LLP leverages its data breach incident response experience to offer proactive breach counseling, compliance advice and support in government investigations. The Washington DC-based team is co-headed by David Lashway and Alan Charles Raul; Lashway is noted for his cybersecurity expertise, including crisis management, misinformation and trade secret theft, while Raul advises a range of tech, telecom, software and financial clients experiencing major cyber and privacy incidents, bolstered by his experience in government work. Colleen Theresa Brown is a go-to for litigation and regulatory defense, alongside assessing the privacy and cyber risk in data-heavy acquisitions. John Woods is recommended for cyber resilience advice and data governance matters. Sean Royall departed the team in August 2023.

Finance > Capital markets: equity offerings

Latin America: International firms > Corporate and M&A

Sidley Austin LLP is best known for cross-border M&A, fund formation and energy deals. With the launch of a Miami office and the arrival of Juan Delgado and a team from Morrison Foerster in July 2022, the firm is now a considerably more significant player in venture capital and emerging company transactions in the region – in part as a result of its appointment as a panel firm for SoftBank Latin America Fund. The firm continues to be active in Latin America fund formation, including growth capital and impact investment funds. It also remains prominent in oil and gas transactions in Brazil. In addition to Brazil, Mexico and Colombia are key jurisdictions for the practice – although it is also active in a number of other smaller markets in the region. New York partner Alyssa Grikscheit is a leading figure in fund formation in Latin America; while Boston partners Alexander Temel and Daniel S Rawner are noted for M&A and private equity. Miami-based managing associate Axel Miranda  is another key figure for venture capital and emerging company transactions. Since publication, Alexander Temel has moved to Paul Hastings LLP.