Our Practice

Sidley’s Securities and Shareholder Litigation team has more than 100 lawyers throughout the world dedicated to achieving successful outcomes in high-stakes securities actions, M&A and corporate control litigation, shareholder derivative litigation, shareholder demands, books-and-records demands, proxy-related litigation and SEC enforcement proceedings.

Our deep bench and extensive experience allow us to represent a wide range of clients, including major corporations, boards of directors and board committees, senior executives, financial advisors and investment banks and auditors. We harness the full power of our global practice for our clients, working across offices and disciplines to ensure that they benefit from our collective experience.

Our strengths include:

  • Crisis management. When a crisis occurs, litigation, shareholder demands and investigations often follow. We are skilled at responding effectively to the consequences of all sorts of corporate traumas, such as product recalls, regulatory events, government investigations, accounting improprieties and restatements, unexpected losses or business downturns, data breaches and whistleblower reports. Clients turn to us to handle the multiple, overlapping proceedings that follow such events because of our proven track record in fighting to protect our clients’ brands and reputations.
  • Seeing the big picture. We have provided board-level counsel for decades. Our lawyers have been, and continue to be, instrumental in the development of corporate and securities law, from winning the seminal Tellabs securities fraud case in the United States Supreme Court to enforcing exclusive forum selection and arbitration bylaws today. The diversity of our experiences and backgrounds—from first-chairing securities class action jury trials, to negotiating complex corporate governance settlements, to conducting investigations in response to shareholder demands—allows us to approach each matter with a unique focus on helping our clients solve their most urgent problems.
  • Focusing on our clients’ needs. We understand that each of our clients is unique, and so are the challenges they face. Our lawyers have a deep understanding of our clients’ industries and the issues facing them, and can draw on the knowledge and experience of Sidley’s other practices to seamlessly provide advice. We craft strategies to achieve each client’s goals, whether that is negotiating an early resolution or fighting through trial and appeal, if necessary. We also pride ourselves in our success in helping clients avoid litigation entirely.
  • Regulatory interface. We are especially well-suited to handle matters involving both regulatory and litigation components. Our lawyers have substantial experience with virtually every subject investigated by the SEC and other governmental agencies, including financial accounting fraud, disclosure and reporting irregularities, stock option backdating, insider trading, broker-dealer trading and operations, IPOs and other offerings, hedge fund conduct, sales of unregistered securities, trading irregularities and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act issues. In litigation matters with a significant regulatory interface, we provide our clients with coordinated and complete solutions that are fully integrated into their larger business objectives.
  • Long-standing relationships with D&O insurers. Sidley routinely works with all of the major D&O insurers and is panel counsel for many, such as AIG, ACE and Monitor. Our close relationships with these insurers reflects their confidence in our ability to effectively and vigorously represent insureds.

Learn more about our practice.