Sidley Austin
Sidley Austin LLP is an American multinational law firm with approximately 2,300 lawyers in 21 offices worldwide. It was established in 1866 and its headquarters is at One South Dearborn in Chicago's Loop.[1] It is one of the largest law firms in the world in terms of revenue. Among its alumni are former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama.[8]
Rankings and recognition[edit]
Sidley Austin is the eleventh-largest U.S.-based corporate law firm, with approximately 2,000 lawyers[3] and annual revenues of approximately three billion dollars. The firm is one of the highest-paying companies in the U.S.[17] (with a base salary of $225,000 for first year associates and $435,000 for eighth year associates; equity partners saw a profit per partner of more than $3.0 million in 2020).[18][19] Sidley maintains offices in 21 cities worldwide, with the most recent addition being Miami in 2022.
Sidley has received the most First-Tier National Rankings a total of eight times since the inception of the U.S. News & World Report Best Law Firms Survey in 2010.[20] [21] The 2020 U.S. News Survey also named Sidley as the "Law Firm of the Year" in FDA Law and Securities Litigation.[22] As of 2019, it was the eighth largest law firm in the world (and sixth in the US) by revenue.[23]
The firm frequently appears at the top of various industry rankings. In 2020, the BTI Consulting Group named Sidley to its BTI Client Service A-Team—one of only three law firms to rank in BTI's Client Service Top 30 for 19 consecutive years.[24] The firm earned the top spot in Asset-Backed Alert's 2019 league tables for most active underwriter counsel in U.S. asset- and mortgage-backed securitization transactions.[25] Other honors include the American Bar Association's 2019 Champions for Disability Inclusion in the Legal Profession Award,[26] conferred in recognition of the firm's measurable progress in recruiting, retaining, and advancing to leadership lawyers with disabilities, and being named a 2019 "Litigation Department of the Year" finalist by The American Lawyer.[27]
The firm is distinguished for its securities practice[28] and its international trade practice,[28] both of which have consistently ranked first in the respective specialty rankings of Chambers and Partners. The trade group represents the Airbus/European Communities side in the ongoing WTO dispute with Boeing/US. The group was named a 2019 International Trade Group of the Year by Law360[29] and has been honored as "Law Firm of the Year" in Trade & Customs by Who's Who Legal for 15 consecutive years.[30] Its appellate and US Supreme Court practice is also particularly well known and has been featured in USA Today, BusinessWeek, the American Lawyer, the Legal Times, and the National Law Journal.[28]
In 2020, Sidley was named "Firm of the Year" in Capital Markets (Overseas); Corporate Compliance; Healthcare, Pharma and Life Sciences; and Real Estate and REIT by China Business Law Journal.[31] In 2018, Sidley was named Competition & Regulatory Team of the Year at The Lawyer Awards in London.[32]
Pro bono work[edit]
Sidley Austin partner George Fatheree worked pro bono on behalf of the descendants of Willa and Charles Bruce[33] to execute the return of beachfront land which had been seized by Los Angeles authorities in the 1920s.[34] The couple had lost the property, known as Bruce's Beach, when the state claimed it for public use and sold it to private investors.[35] It was officially restored to the couple's great grandsons, Marcus and Derrick Bruce, on July 20, 2022. The effort involved more than 1,000 hours of pro bono work.[36]