Bloomberg Ranks Sidley No. 1 for Shareholder Activism in H1 2026 With Record Number of Defenses

Sidley was ranked No. 1 for legal company-side advice in the Bloomberg Global Activism League Tables for the first half of 2026 – in North America and globally. Sidley has topped the biannual Bloomberg league tables for North America 13 times in a row.

Bloomberg credited Sidley with a record number of 34 campaigns, the highest number in the league table’s history for legal defense in any six-month period. It is also noteworthy that Sidley was the No. 1-ranked defense law firm across all market caps: for companies with a market capitalization over US$5 billion, for companies with a market capitalization over US$1 billion, and for companies with a market capitalization below US$1 billion.

A link to the full league tables is here.

The Bloomberg rankings follow Sidley’s Band 1 ranking in Chambers USA in Corporate/M&A: Takeover Defense, stating that “Sidley Austin is the best in the business at activism defense work.” Similarly, Legal 500 US has ranked Sidley Tier 1 for Shareholder Activism ― Advice to Boards, calling Kai Liekefett and Derek Zaba, the co-chairs of Sidley’s Shareholder Activism and Corporate Defense practice, “two of the best lawyers in America.” FactSet, Diligent, and LSEG have also ranked Sidley No. 1 in shareholder activism defense and in corporate defense league tables for company-side engagements since 2020.

Over the past five years, Sidley has represented companies in approximately 150 proxy contests, several hundred activist campaigns, and dozens of settlements — more than any other legal defense practice in the world.