Sidley’s success over the years can be traced to the firm’s commitment to cultivating high-caliber talent across a wide variety of legal disciplines in every region in which we operate. Such dedication has inspired recognition by peers, clients and industry publications, including, most recently, in the 2015 U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” survey, in which Sidley is honored to receive 45 first-tier national rankings.
“We view our continued success in these rankings as a direct reflection of what our clients think about us, and of our hard work in ensuring we have top-tier talent in each of our offices and in each of our practices,” said Carter Phillips, Chair of Sidley’s Executive Committee. “Being recognized with the most first-tier national rankings makes us exceedingly proud of the relationships we have developed with our clients and the fact they consistently view us not only as trusted advisers, but as leaders in our respective fields who provide the finest legal representation available anywhere.”
This marks the fifth year in a row that Sidley has collected the most first-tier national rankings compared to every other law firm in the United States. The firm also earned the U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Law Firm of the Year” recognition in the International Trade and Finance and Litigation – Securities categories; seven of the firm’s offices also received first-tier rankings in the survey’s regional rankings.
“I want to congratulate Sidley once again for its brilliant performance in the U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” rankings,” said Steven Naifeh, President and Founder, Best Lawyers, adding that since the survey began, Sidley has amassed more first-tier national rankings than any other firm. Naifeh, along with the late Gregory White Smith, founded Best Lawyers, which is credited with being the catalyst for today’s professional rankings industry.
Leading source of legal rankings
In 2009, Best Lawyers partnered with U.S. News & World Report, a multi-platform publisher of news and consumer advice, to produce a reliable and unbiased source of law firm rankings.
“We went to U.S. News because we wanted to compile the rankings of law firms on the biggest possible platform,” said Naifeh, adding, “By developing a transparent approach to our ranking methodology, free of undue influence, we knew that our results would be of significance to the legal world.”
The rankings are based on a rigorous evaluation process that includes the collection of client and lawyer evaluations, peer review from leading attorneys in their field and review of additional information provided by law firms as part of the formal submissions process. The 2015 survey had more than 17,000 attorneys providing almost 600,000 law firm assessments, and almost 7,500 clients providing more than 40,000 evaluations.
Receiving a tier designation reflects the high level of respect a firm has earned among other leading lawyers and clients in the same communities and the same practice areas for their abilities, their professionalism and their integrity, according to the editors of Best Lawyers. They also note that “Law Firm of the Year” designations are based on a law firm’s overall performance in a given practice area and represent a significant showing in the survey research.
“Our survey ranks more than 12,000 law firms in each major geographical area, essentially city by city,” Naifeh said. “This is why Sidley’s performance in these rankings has been so impressive. Not only does it have a large number of first-tier rankings in a lot of different areas, but each of their offices, when compared to other firms’ offices in the same city, is strong in and of itself.”
A record of results
Sidley received first-tier national rankings in the following 45 practice areas:
- Antitrust Law
- Appellate Practice
- Banking and Finance Law
- Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law
- Biotechnology Law
- Commercial Litigation
- Communications Law
- Corporate Law
- Derivatives and Futures Law
- Energy Law
- Environmental Law
- Equipment Finance Law
- FDA Law
- Health Care Law
- Insurance Law
- International Arbitration – Commercial
- International Arbitration – Governmental
- International Trade and Finance Law
- Litigation – Antitrust
- Litigation – Bankruptcy
- Litigation – Environmental
- Litigation – First Amendment
- Litigation – Intellectual Property
- Litigation – Labor & Employment
- Litigation – Mergers & Acquisitions
- Litigation – Patent
- Litigation – Regulatory Enforcement (SEC, Telecom, Energy)
- Litigation – Securities
- Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Defendants
- Media Law
- Mergers & Acquisitions Law
- Mutual Funds Law
- Natural Resources Law
- Patent Law
- Private Funds/Hedge Funds Law
- Project Finance Law
- Public Finance Law
- Railroad Law
- Real Estate Law
- Securities/Capital Markets Law
- Securities Regulation
- Securitization and Structured Finance Law
- Tax Law
- Technology Law
- Trusts & Estates Law
The firm received first-tier regional rankings in the following cities: Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Portland, Maine, San Francisco (metro area includes Palo Alto) and Washington, D.C.
Click here to view a full listing of the 2015 rankings.