NEWS & INSIGHTS

New York - Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business has named 186 lawyers from Sidley Austin LLP as leaders in their field in their 2012 guide. In addition to lawyer rankings, the Chambers guide ranks practices on a national and regional basis. Eighty-three practice areas in Sidley’s U.S. offices were recognized, with 21 receiving number one rankings. Sidley was also recognized in Chambers’ ranking categories, Recommended for Client Service and Recommended for Commercial Awareness, in a number of nationwide practice areas. Sidley received 217 lawyer rankings for 186 ranked lawyers, including one “Star” ranking, 41 number one rankings and seven “Up and Coming” rankings in a broad range of practice areas.

The 21 number one ranked practice areas are:

• Nationwide (8) – Appellate Law; Capital Markets: Securitization; Climate Change; Environment; Insurance: Transactional & Regulatory; International Trade; Investment Funds: Hedge Funds; Transportation: Rail (for Railroads).
• District of Columbia (1) –Environment.
• Illinois (11) – Antitrust; Banking & Finance; Corporate/M&A & Private Equity; Environment; Insurance: Dispute Resolution: Reinsurance; Insurance: Transactional & Regulatory; Intellectual Property; Labor & Employment: Employee Benefits & Compensation; Litigation: General Commercial; Media & Entertainment: Litigation; Real Estate.
• New York (1) – Corporate/M&A: Highly Regarded.

In addition to the firm’s rankings, Sidley was “Recommended for Client Service” in the following Nationwide practice areas: Appellate Law; Capital Markets: Debt & Equity; Capital Markets: Derivatives & Structured Products; Capital Markets: Securitization; ERISA Litigation; Healthcare; Insurance: Transactional & Regulatory; Intellectual Property; and Products Liability & Mass Torts. Sidley was also “Recommended for Commercial Awareness” in the following Nationwide practice areas: Appellate Law; Environment; Insurance: Transactional & Regulatory; Intellectual Property; Privacy & Data Security; Securities; and Transportation: Rail (for Railroads).

Carter G. Phillips, Co-Chair of the firm’s Executive Committee, received a “Star” ranking, Chambers’ designation for their highest level of recognition, in Appellate Law (Nationwide) for the fourth year in a row.

Additionally, one partner and one practice area were recognized in the Spotlight Tables, which spotlight firms and lawyers who have “achieved a ranking for the breadth of their expertise, but also receive praise from commentators for having a particular practice (or industry) specialty as part of their wider skill set.” David T. Buente Jr., a global coordinator of the environmental practice, was recognized in Products Liability: Toxic Torts (Nationwide). Sidley also received a Spotlight table ranking in Privacy & Data Security: Healthcare (Nationwide).

Thirty-seven Sidley lawyers achieved 41 individual number one rankings for their work in specific practice areas. Lawyers who received number one rankings in the Nationwide category include: Larry J. Nyhan for Bankruptcy/Restructuring; Renwick D. Martin for Capital Markets: Securitization; Roger R. Martella Jr. for Climate Change; Eugene R. Elrod for Energy: Oil & Gas (Regulatory & Litigation); Susan A. Stone for Insurance: Dispute Resolution: Reinsurance; Jeff S. Liebmann for Insurance: Transactional & Regulatory; Richard M. Belanger for International Trade: Customs; Andrew W. Shoyer for International Trade: Trade Remedies & Trade Policy; William D. Kerr, David R. Sawyier and Michael J. Schmidtberger for Investment Funds: Hedge Funds; Thomas C. Green for Litigation: Trial Lawyers; Alan Charles Raul for Privacy & Data Security; Sergio A. Pozzerle for Projects: Renewables & Alternative Energy; and G. Paul Moates for Transportation: Rail (for Railroads).

In Illinois, the following lawyers received number one rankings: John W. Treece for Antitrust; James E. Clark for Banking & Finance; James F. Conlan and Larry J. Nyhan for Bankruptcy/Restructuring; David W. Carpenter for Communications; Thomas A. Cole and Frederick C. Lowinger for Corporate/M&A; S. Michael (Sy) Peck for Corporate/M&A: Private Equity; Richard W. Astle for Energy & Natural Resources: Transactional; Robert M. Olian for Environment: Litigation; William M. Sneed and Susan A. Stone for Insurance: Dispute Resolution: Reinsurance; Michael P. Goldman and Perry J. Shwachman for Insurance: Transactional & Regulatory; David T. Pritikin for Intellectual Property; Priscilla E. Ryan and Stewart R. Shepherd for Labor & Employment: Employee Benefits & Compensation; Scott R. Lassar for Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations; Richard O’Brien for Media & Entertainment: Litigation; and Lee M. Smolen for Real Estate.

In the District of Columbia, the following lawyers all received number one rankings: David R. Kuney for Bankruptcy/Restructuring; David T. Buente Jr. for Environment; Paul E. Kalb for Healthcare; and Thomas C. Green for Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations.

Jeff S. Liebmann of the New York office received a number one ranking in the Insurance: Transactional & Regulatory category in New York.
Paul R. Walker of the Los Angeles office received a number one ranking in Real Estate in California.

The five lawyers who received seven “Up and Coming” rankings are: Allison J. Satyr for Banking & Finance (Illinois); Sharon R. Flanagan for Capital Markets: Debt & Equity (California) and for Corporate/M&A (Northern California); Giselle M. Barth for Capital Markets: Securitization (Nationwide); Christopher M. Lyons for Energy: Oil & Gas (Regulatory & Litigation) (Nationwide); and Joseph Micallef for Intellectual Property (District of Columbia) and for Intellectual Property: Litigation (District of Columbia).

A firm profile and complete rankings for Sidley are available on the Chambers and Partners website at: http://www.chambersandpartners.com. In the 2011 guide, 171 Sidley lawyers were recognized.

The U.K.-based international publisher Chambers and Partners based its report on in-depth interviews with leading private practice lawyers and key in-house counsel.

Sidley Austin LLP is one of the premier full-service law firms, with approximately 1700 lawyers practicing in 18 U.S. and international cities, including Beijing, Brussels, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hong Kong, London, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo. This year, Sidley celebrates 30 years in Asia. Repeating its performance in the inaugural 2010 survey, Sidley received the most first-tier national rankings of any U.S. law firm in the 2011/12 U.S.News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” survey. Sidley was also named the U.S.News – Best Lawyers “Law Firm of the Year” in both Corporate Law and Securities Regulation in the 2011/12 survey (the first year of such designations). BTI, a Boston-based research and consulting firm, has named Sidley as one of only three firms to have been in the top ten of the BTI Client Service rankings every year since the inception of those rankings in 2001, and as number one in three of those years.

For more information:

, Client Service Officer, 212.839.8797
, Rubenstein Associates, 212.843.8007

For purposes of the New York State Bar rules, this press release may be considered Attorney Advertising and the headquarters of the firm are Sidley Austin LLP 787 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10019, 212.839.5300 and Sidley Austin LLP One South Dearborn, Chicago, IL 60603, 312.853.7000.