Sidley has been ranked No. 1 for legal company-side advisors in Bloomberg’s Global Activism League Tables in the first half of 2024 — both globally and in the United States.
Bloomberg ranked Sidley No. 1 across all categories: number of defended companies (32), aggregate market capitalization of defended companies (over US$336 billion), and aggregate activist stakes in defended companies (over US$9.5 billion). Sidley has been ranked the top legal defense advisor in 8 of the 9 last biannual Bloomberg league tables for shareholder activism defense. In the first half of 2024, Sidley represented more companies than any other law firm in any six-month period in the history of the Bloomberg league tables, evidencing Sidley’s increasingly market-dominating position. Bloomberg also ranked Sidley the No. 1 legal defense advisor in the financial, investment fund, real estate, and technology industries.
A link to the full league tables is here.
The Bloomberg rankings follow Sidley’s Band 1 ranking in Chambers USA in Corporate/M&A: Takeover Defense, stating that “Sidley Austin is the best in the business at activism defense work.” Similarly, The Legal 500 has ranked Sidley in Tier 1 for Shareholder Activism – Advice to Boards, calling Sidley’s activism co-chairs Kai Liekefett and Derek Zaba “two of the best lawyers in America.” Sidley has also been ranked No. 1 in the shareholder activism defense league tables by FactSet, Diligent, and LSEG for company side engagements for the year 2023.
In the past five years, Sidley has represented companies in more than 150 proxy contests, several hundred activist campaigns, and dozens of settlements — more than any other legal defense practice in the world.
