Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP has been a leader in the legal profession for more than 75 years. Our 1,100 lawyers, who operate in 16 offices in major global financial centers, work together across practices, industries, and jurisdictions to provide clients with clear, actionable approaches to their most complex legal and business challenges.
Antitrust Litigation: For decades, we have represented many of the largest U.S. and international companies in the full range of antitrust litigation, including monopolization, conspiracy, and merger cases in district and appellate courts across the United States. Unlike at many other firms, where generalist litigators handle competition cases, our antitrust litigators are true antitrust practitioners, and this difference is demonstrated in our track record of success. Notable clients include Change Healthcare, Fox Corporation, HSBC, Juul Labs, “K” Line America, Keurig Dr Pepper, NSK, Sabre Holdings, Swedish Match, T-Mobile, and Teladoc.
Bankruptcy and Workout Litigation: Harnessing our integrated global partnership and network of locally qualified lawyers, we represent both debtors and creditors in cross-border restructurings and insolvency proceedings in the United States, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Notable clients include Apollo Capital Management, Automotores Gildemeister, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Genesis Global Capital, Goldman Sachs, Grupo Posadas, HSBC, LATAM Airlines, Nomura, Nortel Networks, Ocyan, Odebrecht Group, Oi, Punjab National Bank, Samarco Mineração, Total S.A., Vale S.A., Warburg Pincus, The Wendy’s Company, and YPF S.A.
Litigation and Arbitration: Recognized as one of the top litigation and arbitration groups in the world, Cleary has counseled corporations, financial institutions, governments, and individuals in cases that have dominated the business and legal news. Our engagements frequently require cross-border coordination of the firm’s varied resources, allowing us to pair our corporate, regulatory, and financial experience with our litigation prowess. Our U.S. team has a wealth of government experience and a deep bench of former federal prosecutors, including two recent Acting U.S. Attorneys for the Southern District of New York; several former senior officials of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Chief Litigation Counsel of the Enforcement Division; and several former senior officials from the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, including its Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Litigation and Assistant Chief of the International Section, and most recently Chief of the FCPA Unit at the Department of Justice.
White-Collar Defense and Internal Investigations: Cleary advises and defends the world’s leading financial institutions and multinational corporations and, in certain cases, their senior employees, in a broad range of sensitive criminal and regulatory matters. We defend clients before the DOJ, SEC, and other government agencies and—when necessary—in court. We regularly conduct internal investigations for companies and their boards. Our established practices in the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Latin America enable us to provide a comprehensive and coordinated approach to cross-border enforcement matters. Recently, Cleary secured a settlement for Vale S.A. in an SEC investigation into securities disclosures related to the Company’s dam safety in the wake of the 2019 Brumadinho dam collapse in Brazil. The SEC has touted this case as the first to come out of its ESG Taskforce with a highly favorable outcome. The firm’s notable clients also include BNP Paribas, Citigroup, DHL, GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, The Nissan Motor Company, and Robert Bosch GmbH., among individual representations such as CEOs Michael Carroll and Brad Garlinghouse, and hedge fund founder Daniel Kamensky.
Complex Civil Litigation: Cleary is recognized as a leading firm for complex commercial disputes, bringing business savvy and an international point of view to bear on a full range of business matters. Notable clients include Assured Guaranty, Bank of New York Mellon, BHP Group, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Copa Airlines, Crédit Lyonnais, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Medytox, National Amusements, Inc., National Westminster Bank plc, Robert Bosch GmbH, and YPF S.A.
Intellectual Property Litigation: Our formidable intellectual property practice includes the litigation and arbitration of IP disputes, with particular experience in international patent and trademark infringement matters, and licensing and JV disputes in multiple jurisdictions. We have led clients to victories in many landmark IP cases. Notable clients include Citigroup, Medytox, Nortel Networks, OpenText, and Tom Ford.
Securities and M&A Litigation: We have extensive experience representing boards, special committees, acquirers, and financial advisors around the country in litigation related to mergers, tender offers, and other takeover-related settings. We also advise on a range of corporate governance matters and handle other derivative litigation challenging the actions of boards of directors. Notable clients include Allergan, Applied Materials, Assured Guaranty, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, International Flavors & Fragrances, Juul Labs, Odebrecht S.A., Petrobras, Polychain Capital, Ryanair, Synchrony Financial, and T-Mobile.
International Arbitration: We have extensive experience in international commercial arbitration, investment treaty, and other arbitrations involving public international law, and in enforcing or challenging arbitral awards and foreign judgments in the United States and U.S. judgments abroad. Our lawyers also serve as arbitrators in major international cases, are experienced in drafting arbitration clauses for complex international transactions, and regularly work with our corporate colleagues on technical commercial and M&A arbitrations. Notable clients include Agfa-Gevaert Group, DP World, Ontex Group, Petrobras, Pluspetrol Perú, SanDisk, Selex Galileo, Telecom Italia S.p.A., and Vale S.A.
Sovereign Litigation and Arbitration: For more than 30 years, the firm has worked on litigation and arbitration matters involving sovereign states and state-owned entities in a wide range of disputes, including debt restructurings, and has developed and refined the legal and financial techniques used to address these problems. Notable clients include The Arab Republic of Egypt, The Bank of Spain, The French Republic, The Hellenic Republic (Greece), Japan, The Republic of Argentina, The Republic of Austria, The Republic of Congo, The Republic of Iraq, The Republic of Slovenia, and The Republic of Tatarstan.
Other Offices: Abu Dhabi · Beijing · Brussels · Cologne · Frankfurt · Hong Kong · London · Milan · Paris · Rome · São Paulo · Seoul
Updated Aug 2023
