Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

Firm overview: Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is widely recognized as one of the pre-eminent law firms in the world. The firm devotes to its clients the legal talent and skill of over 1,300 lawyers with a commitment to hard work, excellence and integrity. The firm takes a business-like approach to advising its clients worldwide across a broad spectrum of corporate transactions and litigation matters by offering straightforward, pragmatic advice that recognizes the business needs of clients in light of prevailing commercial and legal realities. The firm has played a substantial role in many of the most complex and noteworthy transactions and litigations of the last decade. Simpson Thacher was selected as a ‘Practice Group of the Year’ in seven categories by Law360 in 2023, placing it among Law360’s ’Firms of the Year’ for 2023.

Areas of practice
M&A: Simpson Thacher offers clients a world-class M&A team with decades of experience in structuring, negotiating and completing some of the largest and most notable transactions in M&A history. Recognized for advising parties on all sides of complex public and private M&A transactions, buyouts, stock and asset purchases, restructurings, spinoffs, joint ventures and contested transactions worldwide, Simpson Thacher also counsels clients on a broad range of corporate governance and control matters, including proxy contests and challenges by activist investors.

Private equity: Simpson Thacher is the world’s leading legal advisor in the private equity sector. Since the earliest days of private equity, clients have sought Simpson Thacher’s advice across the spectrum of private equity activity and the firm continues to be the counsel of choice for many of the world’s most sophisticated private equity firms. Simpson Thacher’s scale and depth of experience give it insight into the needs of every participant in private equity transactions: private equity sponsors, senior bank lenders, subordinated and bridge lenders, management and financial investors and underwriters. The firm has ranked among the top two law firms in Global Private Equity Announced Deals (by value) by Bloomberg in 10 of the past 15 years and has been named a ‘Private Equity Practice Group of the Year’ by Law360 for 13 consecutive years, including 2023.

Capital markets: Simpson Thacher is a leader in capital markets transactions worldwide. The capital markets practice is prized for its reach and range – from Manhattan to Silicon Valley, from London to Hong Kong, São Paulo and beyond. With a uniquely balanced practice, representing both issuers and underwriters, the firm enjoys a premier standing in advising on IPOs and other equity capital markets transactions, as well as high yield debt, convertible debt and investment grade offerings. Clients rely on Simpson Thacher’s mastery of intricate deal structuring and its experience across the full spectrum of products and industries. The firm was named a ‘Capital Markets Practice Group of the Year’ by Law360 in nine of the past ten years, including 2023.

Banking and credit: With a widely recognized top-level practice, Simpson Thacher counsels clients on their most sophisticated credit transactions. The firm has ranked #1 or #2 as legal counsel in each of the past 15 years based on financing volume by Loan Pricing Corporation. Clients rely on Simpson Thacher to advise on an array of complex credit transactions and financial instruments at all levels of the corporate capital structure. The firm’s practice focuses on many areas of the bank and syndicated lending market, including: leveraged finance, acquisition finance (including bridge financing), investment grade finance and project and energy finance.

Alternative capital and private credit: Simpson Thacher offers non-bank lenders, institutional investors and borrowers highly tailored advice in structuring and executing innovative and complex alternative capital and private credit solutions worldwide. The firm’s extensive experience includes advising on transaction types across the financing spectrum and continues to grow as demand for alternative financing sources increases.

Litigation: Clients seek the practice’s advice on high-stakes litigation, cross-border disputes, as well as government and internal investigations in the Americas, Europe and Asia. The firm offers a substantial bench of talent to resolve a wide array of legal issues. Clients benefit from the practice’s ability to leverage its broad experience and versatility to address their unique legal and business interests. The firm has been named “Insurance Firm of the Year” (2013-2019, 2021, 2022 and 2024), “Securities Firm of the Year” (2018-2020), “Pro Bono Firm of the Year” (2020 and 2023), and honored with an Impact Case Award (2024) by Benchmark Litigation; Litigation Department of the Year for Insurance (2018, 2020 and 2023) and Finance (2017, 2019 and 2022) by New York Law Journal; Insurance Practice Group of the Year (2023), Technology Practice Group of the Year (2019, 2020, 2022 and 2023) and Healthcare Practice Group of the Year (2023) by Law360; an “International Elite” Firm for Litigation (2023) by Latin Lawyer; a member of the “GIR 30” (2022) and the “GIR 100” (2015-2023); and awarded “Merger Control Matter of the Year – Americas” (2023) by Global Competition Review, among other accolades.

The litigation practice includes

• Anti-discrimination and DEI advisory
• Antitrust and trade regulation
• Appellate
• Asia litigation
• Bankruptcy litigation
• Complex commercial litigation
• ERISA litigation
• False advertising litigation
• Funds regulatory and investigations
• Government and internal investigations
• Insurance and reinsurance
• Intellectual property litigation
• International disputes and arbitration
• International regulatory and compliance
• Mergers and acquisitions litigation
• Product liability and mass Tort
• Securities litigation
• Whistleblower and False Claims Act

Private funds: Simpson Thacher has one of the world’s pre-eminent private funds practices. The practice is global in scope and covers funds with a wide variety of investment criteria, including buyout, hedge, real estate, energy/infrastructure, credit, impact, secondary, venture capital, fund-of-funds and other types of funds pursuing ‘alternative investment’ strategies. The team provides comprehensive advice to many of the world’s best-known institutional alternative asset managers, as well as smaller first-time funds and independent boutiques on fund formations and an array of fund transactions. Noted for advising on high-profile fundraisings across asset classes, the firm has been named a Law360 ’Fund Formation Practice Group of the Year’ for each of the past five years, including 2023. We also offer a dynamic, long-standing Registered Funds Practice with a focus on alternative asset managers seeking to access retail investor channels and advising on novel regulatory policy and strategy matters in the United States and Europe.

Real estate: The firm’s global real estate practice spans all areas of the real estate industry, including sophisticated real estate finance, sales and acquisitions, restructurings, real estate development, joint ventures, co-investments and partnerships. Simpson Thacher’s synthesis of real estate experience with its leading corporate practices – M&A, capital markets, banking and restructuring – allows the firm to offer institutional real estate investors a single source of advice for their most complex real estate matters. The firm was named a ‘Real Estate Practice Group of the Year’ by Law360 in eight of the past ten years, including 2023.

Restructuring: Simpson Thacher’s depth of experience in some of the largest and most complex bankruptcies and out-of-court restructurings allows the firm to provide effective, strategic advice to clients across every part of the capital structure, from holders of senior secured debt, to unsecured and subordinated debt, to equity. In addition, the firm’s multidisciplinary Special Situations group advises investors and other capital providers in structuring and providing complex financing solutions for distressed companies. While the team excels at crafting creative and consensual out-of-court solutions to the thorniest disputes, when circumstances demand, the firm’s bankruptcy litigators have extensive experience and sophistication to successfully prosecute complex bankruptcy cases.

Energy infrastructure: Energy and infrastructure companies, lenders and investors turn to Simpson Thacher for cutting edge legal advice on global, high-profile transactions. The firm is at the forefront of developments across the energy and infrastructure industries, providing the unique perspective necessary to advise a diverse group of clients in all phases of their energy and infrastructure businesses. The practice’s clients work in electric power and transmission; energy transition; renewable and clean energy, including wind, solar and geothermal; electric, gas and water utilities; exploration and production, midstream, refining and petrochemicals, energy services; metals and mining, and all segments of the infrastructure sector, including digital infrastructure, airports, ports, bridges and roads.

Financial institutions: We offer clients unique insight into issues relating to the financial services industry, gained through our extensive deal experience and deep knowledge of the complex and changing regulatory framework. We have represented clients in many of the largest and most complex bank M&A transactions of the past decades, as well as important and innovative capital raising transactions and regulatory matters ranging from compliance with the Dodd-Frank Act and its implementing regulations to chartering new institutions and obtaining regulatory approvals for expanded banking powers. Working closely with our market leading technology practice, our FinTech team handles headline-making transactions and high-stakes disputes across the FinTech sector.

Healthcare: Major players across the healthcare industry – pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, medical device and equipment manufacturers, health insurance companies, hospitals and other providers – turn to Simpson Thacher for deep experience navigating the complexities of the industry. From structuring multibillion dollar mergers and obtaining antitrust approval to advising on disputes and investigations, our healthcare group combines industry-specific experience with unrivaled excellence in the legal disciplines that most affect healthcare companies. The firm was named a ‘Healthcare Practice Group of the Year’ by Law360 in 2023.

Technology: Simpson Thacher is known as a global technology powerhouse that provides practical legal advice with an appreciation for the nuances and subtleties in the economy’s most complex and fast-changing sector. The firm has led some of the most significant and high profile tech matters in recent history, including acquisitions, financings, IPOs, shareholder disputes, cybersecurity issues, government investigations and other litigation matters. Our clients include both well-known players and emerging companies in technology, media and telecommunications, as well as investors, lenders and underwriters. We understand the industry dynamics and challenges faced by companies in this highly competitive space, and render advice tailored to each client’s circumstances and reflective of their key priorities, business model and operations, proprietary IP and the competitive landscape. The firm was named a ‘Technology Practice Group of the Year’ by Law360 in 2023.

Chairman, executive committee: Alden Millard
Administrative partners: Elizabeth Cooper, Jonathan Karen
Number of partners worldwide: 253
Number of other lawyers worldwide: Over 1,000