Law Firm Overview

Shearman & Sterling was one of the first national law firms to enter the Bay Area legal market, opening its San Francisco office in 1979. In its early years, the office worked primarily with our financial institution clients, including the major investment banks and private equity clients, in capital markets and merger and acquisition transactions both in the Bay Area and across the Western United States. As the practice expanded into Silicon Valley, we followed with a Menlo Park office in 1998.

Just as the firm responded to the course of business by extending its services to a growing client base around the world, so, too, have our Bay Area offices. Today, our Bay Area offices provide a full array of legal services to clients that include public and private companies (both domestic and multinational, and both within and outside the technology sector), sovereign wealth funds, major commercial and investment banks, and West Coast-based private equity clients. Bay Area corporate attorneys advise clients on capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, bank finance, bankruptcy, and workout transactions, as well as special committee and corporate governance representations and general securities law compliance. Our Bay Area attorneys also focus on securities and commercial litigation; internal investigations; intellectual property litigation, particularly patent litigation; intellection property transaction work; tax law; and executive compensation.

The Bay Area offices also play a critical role in the firm's overall global practice. Bay Area lawyers interact regularly with colleagues in our worldwide offices, notably those in the Asian and European offices and also increasingly with the Middle East. This enables us to provide global legal services to both local companies expanding their worldwide operations and international clients entering the Bay Area.

Areas of Practice

• Antitrust
• Asset Management
• Commodities, Futures and Derivatives
• Bankruptcy & Reorganization
• Capital Markets
• Environmental
• Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits
• Financial Institutions Advisory
• Oil & Gas
• Corporate Governance
• Intellectual Property
• International Arbitration
• International Trade & Government Relations
• Criminal Law, Regulation and Enforcement
• Litigation
• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Outsourcing
• Private Client
• Privatization
• Project Development & Finance
• Health Care
• India
• Sports
• Tax
• Property
• Structured Finance
• Finance
• Insurance

Honors and Awards

• AV Rating, Martindale-Hubbell

West Practice Categories

Regulatory Enforcement, Antitrust Law, Mergers, Acquisitions & Divestitures, Banking & Finance Law, Bankruptcy Law, Collections & Repossessions, Business Organizations, Corporate Governance, Reorganizations, Criminal Law, Pensions, Benefits & Compensations -- Employee, Oil & Gas, Sports, Environmental Law, Estate Planning, Family Law, Government Agencies & Programs, Health & Health Care Law, Insurance Law, Intellectual Property Law, Business & Trade, International Arbitration, Litigation & Appeals, Native Peoples Law, Real Estate Law, Land Use & Zoning, Capital Markets, Commodities, Taxation Law