Public Company Advisory

Sidley has one of the nation’s preeminent Public Company Advisory practices. We advise more than 1,000 public company clients across industries, including 37 of the Fortune 50, 67 of the Fortune 100, and 268 of the Fortune 500 (as of October 2026). We serve as trusted counsel to boards of directors, senior executives, and in-house legal teams on the securities law, corporate governance, and regulatory compliance issues that define the public company environment. Our practice is built for both dimensions of public company life: the sustained, proactive counsel that day-to-day matters deserve, and the coordinated, experienced response that significant situations require.

Day-to-day disclosure counsel. We advise clients on their disclosure obligations under the federal securities laws and their ongoing dealings with the SEC and the securities exchanges, including periodic and event-driven filings, proxy statements, and other matters before the SEC such as disclosure reviews and requests for interpretive guidance and no-action relief. Through this sustained work, we develop a deep understanding of each client’s disclosure posture and history, allowing us to anticipate issues rather than simply react to them.

Corporate governance at the core. Working with Sidley’s top-ranked Corporate Governance practice, we counsel boards and committees on fiduciary duties, director and officer responsibilities, board oversight of emerging risks such as artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, shareholder proposals and investor engagement, annual meeting matters, and controls and procedures. Our governance advice draws on the perspective of a broad public company client base, giving boards practical insight into evolving practices and investor expectations.

Insight from inside the regulator. Our team draws on the experience of Sidley’s deep bench of SEC alumni, many of whom held senior positions at the SEC, and their firsthand understanding of how regulatory priorities are set and enforced shapes clear, actionable advice. That perspective informs everything from routine comment letter responses to the most sensitive disclosure judgments, and it helps clients engage with regulators constructively and with confidence.

Prepared for critical moments. When situations escalate, whether an activist campaign, an unsolicited bid, a regulatory investigation, or other crisis, clients cannot afford to spend the first critical days educating new advisers. Because Sidley handles ordinary-course work with the same rigor those situations demand, we arrive already knowing the company, and we immediately activate the full strength of the firm, including:

• Shareholder Activism and Corporate Defense, representing public companies, including their boards, in the defense of activist campaigns, hostile takeovers, short attacks, and other battles for control
• Public Company M&A, advising boards and special committees in negotiated and contested transactions involving public companies
• Capital Markets, handling IPOs, follow-ons, and strategic capital markets transactions
• SEC Enforcement, representing public companies in SEC, CFTC, DOJ, and other regulatory investigations
• Securities and Shareholder Litigation, defending companies, boards, and executives in securities class actions and shareholder disputes
• Executive Compensation, advising on compensation design, disclosure, and governance
• ESG and Emerging Regulatory Issues, counseling on evolving disclosure and governance expectations

Few firms can offer this combination: advisers with deep institutional knowledge of your company, backed by integrated capability across every discipline a public company may need, from the routine to the extraordinary.