Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is a premier firm of more than 1,000 lawyers with diverse backgrounds, personalities, ideas and interests who provide innovative and effective solutions to our clients’ most complex legal and business challenges. With 10 offices across North America, Europe and Asia, and a robust international network, the firm represents many of the world’s largest and most important public and private corporations, asset managers and financial institutions, as well as clients in need of pro bono assistance. We consistently earn high praise for our collaborative, commercial approach, providing novel and efficient solutions to otherwise intractable situations.
The firm is widely recognized as having market-leading practices in private equity, public company M&A, litigation, white collar and regulatory defense, and restructuring. Within these broad practices, we also offer numerous market-leading specialized practices, including intellectual property and technology transactions, finance, capital markets, private funds, competition/antitrust, tax, executive compensation and real estate, among others. Our firm is at the forefront of legal innovation and offers a full suite of premier legal services to clients across borders.
Litigation:
No other law firm can approach Paul, Weiss’s experience and record of success in the most complex, high-stakes disputes in U.S. federal and state courts and before major arbitration bodies. With a deep bench that includes many of the country’s most accomplished trial lawyers and former senior government officials, our Litigation Department is uniquely positioned to handle multifaceted crises, from sprawling cross-border, multi-regulator enforcement actions to parallel private litigation. We are regularly entrusted with fast-moving, franchise-threatening matters because of our ability to develop and execute a winning strategy, no matter the problem or adversary, and to see the matter through to the ultimate resolution, whether at trial or before the Supreme Court.
White Collar & Regulatory Defense:
Clients facing white collar and regulatory enforcement challenges look to Paul, Weiss to protect their businesses and reputations and manage the behind-the-scenes interplay among competing regulators and enforcement agencies. We handle a vast range of regulatory and enforcement inquiries, including across jurisdictions. Our lawyers are adept at conducting internal investigations on behalf of companies, boards, audit committees and special litigation committees.
Broader Practice:
We are widely recognized for our expertise in many specialized litigation, regulatory defense and investigatory areas, including, among others: Anti-Corruption & Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; Anti-Money Laundering; Antitrust; Artificial Intelligence; Restructuring Litigation; Congressional Investigations; Copyright & Trademark Litigation; Crisis Management; Cryptocurrency & Blockchain; Cybersecurity & Data Protection; Employment, Workplace Investigations & Trade Secrets; ERISA, Pension & Benefits Litigation; False Claims Act & Qui Tam Litigation; Financial Services Litigation & Investigations; Foreign Direct Investment Regulation; Insurance Litigation; Internal Investigations; International Arbitration; Investigations; Investment Management Litigation; Mergers & Acquisitions Litigation; National Security & CFIUS; Patent Litigation; Product Liability & Mass Torts Litigation; Sanctions; Securities Litigation; and Supreme Court & Appellate Litigation.
Updated Sep 2025
Harris St. Laurent & Wechsler's Washington DC Office specializes in white collar defense and government investigations. It also has a strong appellate practice. Harris St. Laurent & Wechsler is an elite boutique with thirty attorneys, seven of whom are ranked by Benchmark Litigation as Litigation Stars, and seven of whom are ranked as Rising Stars.
Small by design, the firm was founded in 2009 with a singular end in mind: to produce superior results for its clients in an open and modern manner. We represent clients in the full spectrum of employment matters; criminal, regulatory and internal investigations; and commercial litigation and arbitration.
White Collar: HSW’s White Collar department defends individuals and companies charged in sophisticated federal criminal, state and other governmental and internal investigations, typically involving financial crimes, public corruption or national security. We represent clients in cases and investigations brought by U.S. Attorney’s offices, the SEC, the US Department of Justice, the Federal Reserve, and state and local prosecutors, among other agencies. These matters span a wide range of allegations, including insider trading, criminal antitrust, public corruption, crypto and NFT related conduct, asset forfeiture, and other investigations. Because of our firm’s elite Employment Practice, we also specialize in representing senior executives in connection with internal, regulatory, and criminal investigations stemming from their employment.
Civil Litigation and Arbitration: HSW leverages its proven skill and reputation as a first-seat trial firm to achieve results — through trial or resolution—for plaintiffs and defendants in complex commercial litigation and arbitration, including employment matters, founder’s disputes, breach of contract and business torts, securities and intellectual property cases. The firm specializes in matters demanding a high level of financial and commercial know-how. HSW tries cases in state and federal court, and in all major arbitral forums.
Employment: HSW has a first-tier national employment practice, and is best known for representing individual founders, partners, C-Suite executives, top producers, and practice leaders. In addition, the firm has a meaningful roster of company clients. Our practice includes litigation and arbitration, negotiation of employment agreements and separations, discreetly handling internal investigations, co-founder disputes, restrictive covenant disputes, and employment counseling. HSW is also known for its high-profile successes in FINRA arbitrations, having secured two of the six largest-ever FINRA awards. We advise clients on hundreds of millions of dollars of agreements, separations and disputes annually, and represent clients across a broad range of industries, including financial services, technology, real estate, media, health, travel, fashion, law, and entertainment.
Updated Sep 2025
Incisive. Inclusive. Invested. We’re Axinn.
Experienced, tenacious, and always trial-ready, we are committed to understanding complex legal challenges that impact the future of our clients’ businesses, globally.
Focusing on antitrust, intellectual property, and high-stakes litigation, our extensive teams in the U.S. possess deep knowledge and client-side experience across a range of sectors, including technology, healthcare, life sciences, and consumer products.
With a strong culture of respect, collaboration, and fairness, we build relationships with our clients and colleagues alike — creating opportunity, supporting communities, and acting with purpose. Our client service, entrepreneurialism, and inquisitive nature sit at the heart of the firm, enabling us to prioritize client goals and achieve successful outcomes.
Updated Sep 2025
A&O Shearman distinguishes itself by harnessing the intellectual strength and deep experience of its lawyers across its extensive global footprint. The firm represents many of the world’s leading corporations, financial institutions, emerging growth companies, governments, and state-owned enterprises. Those clients, in turn, continue to choose A&O Shearman for its ability to leverage the knowledge and judgment of one of the world’s largest and most accomplished cross-border legal teams—a team ideally situated to help clients on their complex business transactions.
Our lawyers have vast experience litigating, arbitrating, investigating, and resolving disputes across multiple jurisdictions. We have the depth of experience and breadth of knowledge to assist in any significant dispute, having served as counsel in high-stakes, complex cases for some of the world’s most recognizable companies. We focus on meeting our clients’ goals, whether litigating a matter through trial and appeal or negotiating a business resolution. We understand our clients’ immediate and long-term needs and consistently deliver successful results.
In an increasingly volatile world, our understanding of the different legal and political landscapes in which our clients operate drives our approach to dispute resolution. We provide our clients with sophisticated risk-management counsel, and trial-tested teams with a track record of success, who are ready to litigate aggressively to defend our clients’ interests at all costs.
A&O Shearman has experience in a wide range of substantive areas including:
Securities Litigation:
Our securities litigation practice is a core component of our market-leading litigation group. With a deep bench of attorneys focusing on this area of law, we are ready to handle any securities dispute. Through years of success, we have become the go-to counsel for numerous public companies and financial institutions, as well as their officers and directors. We recognize that every securities matter is also a business matter. Each case can potentially pose a significant threat, and – if not handled with the appropriate care and sensitivity – can cause major reputational and financial risks.
White Collar Defense and Global Investigations:
Our preeminent white-collar defense and global investigations practice takes a holistic, coordinated approach to navigating our clients through criminal, regulatory and internal investigations. We have both local depth and global reach, and the majority of our work is cross-border. We bring a deep understanding of the laws of different jurisdictions and investigation practices across the globe, bolstered by the experience and insights from the more than 20 former prosecutors and regulators on our team.
Antitrust Litigation:
Our global antitrust team advises corporates, private equity and financial institutions on their most significant transactions, investigations, and litigation. The breadth and scale of our U.S., U.K., and EU practice together with our global network and industry knowledge makes us uniquely placed to advise on complex multijurisdictional matters involving parallel proceedings and inter-agency co-operation.
M&A Litigation:
We have unparalleled expertise in representing major international companies, investment banks, private equity firms, boards of directors, special committees, and other parties involved in high-stakes transactional litigation. We advise on all aspects of M&A disputes, from pre-deal due diligence, risk assessment and mitigation to post-closing claims and remedies, and shareholder disputes. Our deep expertise in M&A litigation across the globe, including in the Delaware Court of Chancery and state and federal courts across the U.S., distinguishes us in the market.
Complex Commercial Litigation:
We have represented corporations, partnerships, joint ventures, and other entities in a variety of business-related disputes relating to breach of contract, fraud, professional malpractice, business torts, and insurance and reinsurance matters.
Intellectual Property Litigation:
We represent the world’s leading businesses, helping them to invest in and protect their critical intellectual property as well as defending them when plaintiffs allege that they have violated intellectual property rights. Whether developing, acquiring, registering, licensing, or enforcing IP rights – or defending against alleged IP violations – we help our clients to navigate the legal and commercial challenges they face globally.
Employment Litigation:
We handle disputes arising from terminations, team moves, whistleblowing, and trade-restraint matters, as well as allegations of misconduct, discrimination and harassment. We have a track record of delivering successful outcomes whether via obtaining or defending injunctions, resolving claims through mediation or arbitration, or litigating in court or before employment tribunals.
Cybersecurity:
We help multinational organizations identify, mitigate, and manage cyber threats. We work with our clients to build their operational resilience and cyber-readiness with robust, tailored compliance programs and governance processes, which address both their own risks and those posed by their supply chain partners.
Arbitration:
We have decades of experience advising and representing clients in complex cross-border commercial arbitrations and investor-state disputes under the rules of all the leading institutions. We are known for our skill in arbitration-related court proceedings - including multijurisdictional enforcement strategies - ensuring we can take cases from inception to their ultimate conclusion. We also regularly advise on complex issues of public international law.
Updated July 2024