Established in 1971, Sidley’s San Francisco office, with approximately 50 lawyers, combines the benefits of a long-standing local presence with the resources of a global law firm.
Our litigation lawyers are involved in all forms of business litigation, including complex commercial, securities and antitrust litigation. We also handle a broad range of securities matters, including representing issuers, directors and officers, accounting firms, investment banks and brokerage firms, in securities class actions, SEC and FINRA investigations and enforcement matters.
Our intellectual property lawyers represent clients in patent, trade secret, copyright and trademark lawsuits in California and nationwide. We trace our connections back to the earliest days of Silicon Valley. We represent both emerging technology and Fortune 500 companies, locally and throughout the world, with special focus on Asia Pacific region. We also have extensive experience in Section 337 unfair trade practice cases before the International Trade Commission.
Lawyers in San Francisco also provide a full range of capital markets, M&A and general corporate services. We have extensive experience handling IPOs and add-on offerings, convertible and other equity-related securities, investment grade and high yield debt, PIPES and registered direct offerings, structured notes and other indexed securities, REIT financings and preferred and trust preferred securities. We have a robust M&A practice, representing buyers and sellers of public and private companies, private equity firms, boards of directors and financial advisors. We provide a full range of legal services to hedge fund clients, and advise NYSE and NASDAQ-listed companies on a comprehensive range of corporate governance, reporting and other matters.
In 2006, Investment Dealers’ Digest named one of the San Francisco office’s structured finance M&A transactions its “Deal of the Year.” We have represented a principal party in a number of “first of their kind” structured finance transactions, including the first conventional mortgage pass-through financing, the first automobile lease securitization involving a titling trust and the first tobacco litigation settlement securitization.
The San Francisco office serves as bond, disclosure, issuer’s or borrower’s counsel for most of the major cities and counties throughout California, as well as numerous joint powers agencies, special districts, school districts, nonprofit entities and conduit issuers. We have served as underwriters counsel to virtually every national and regional investment bank operating in California.
Our San Francisco healthcare lawyers advise pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device and healthcare providers across the country on a broad range of regulatory, compliance and strategic business issues. We are very familiar with the complexities of Medicare and Medicaid coverage and reimbursement, fraud and abuse enforcement, and the rapidly changing standards of medical information privacy and security.
Our active pro bono program includes handling criminal appeals and petitions for habeas corpus, applications for political asylum, and matters involving battered women and children’s rights, sponsoring public interest law fellowships at Stanford and Berkeley law schools and partnering with the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Our office, located in the heart of San Francisco’s financial district, includes professionals who speak Cantonese, French and Czech.