With approximately 1,600 attorneys in 23 offices on five continents, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and affiliates (“Skadden, Arps” or “Skadden”) serves clients in every major financial center. Our strategically positioned U.S. and international locations allow us proximity to our clients and their operations and ensure a seamless and unified approach at all times.

For more than 60 years, Skadden has provided legal services to the corporate, industrial, financial and governmental communities around the world in a wide range of high-profile transactions, regulatory matters, and litigation and controversy issues. Our clients range from a variety of small, entrepreneurial companies to a substantial number of the 500 largest U.S. corporations and many of the leading global companies. We have represented numerous governments, many of the largest banks — including virtually all of the leading investment banks — and major insurance and financial services companies. The firm has more than 40 practice areas and advises clients in matters involving, among others, mergers and acquisitions, litigation and arbitration, corporate finance, corporate restructuring, securities law, banking, project finance, energy, antitrust, tax and intellectual property.

Rankings in Surveys

Skadden frequently is identified as one of the world’s leading law firms. For example:

• Skadden ranked as the No. 1 firm in the country for innovation in the legal sector in the Financial Times’ annual “US Innovative Lawyers” report (Nov. 21, 2013). We are the first firm to receive this honor twice and have ranked as one of the top two firms all four years the report has been published.
• Chambers Global selected Skadden as the “International Law Firm of the Year” for 2014. We also were named “Corporate/M&A Law Firm of the Year.” Additionally, we earned 322 practice and attorney rankings, and the firm and its lawyers received 72 top-tier rankings.
• For 13 consecutive years, Skadden has been named the top corporate law firm in the United States in Corporate Board Member magazine’s annual survey of “America’s Best Corporate Law Firms” (May 2013), which asked directors of publicly traded companies to select the firms they would “most likely retain to handle a variety of corporate legal matters.”
• Skadden was selected by The American Lawyer as a finalist for its bien­nial “Litigation Department of the Year” competition in 2014. We also were named, for the third consecutive time, a member of the “Fearsome Foursome” — the four elite law firm litigation practices that “clients would least like to see on the other side of the table” — in a survey of 300 corporate counsel at the world’s largest companies published by BTI Consulting in September 2013.
• In the 2013 edition of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Skadden received a total of 335 practice and attorney rankings — more than any other firm. We also topped the following categories: attorney rankings (245), practice rankings (90) and “star individual” rankings (6).

Skadden emphasizes a dedication to excellent client service and the highest ethical standards across a platform that fosters collaboration, creativity and efficiency in all that we do. Our effort on behalf of clients is matched by our commitment to diversity and public service, both of which are core elements of life at the firm. In 2011, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund awarded Skadden with its first-ever “Law Firm of the Year” in recognition of our work in these two areas.

Diversity and Inclusion

• The firm received a perfect score for the fifth time in six years in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2014 Corporate Equality Index of the “Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality.” The HRC Foundation is the educational arm of the nation’s largest advocacy group for LGBT persons.
• In 2013, we were cited by The American Lawyer in its “Diversity Scorecard” for having the highest number of African-American attorneys, the second-highest num­ber of Asian-American attorneys and fourth-highest number of Hispanic attorneys of 228 major U.S. law firms.
• In 2013, for the third consecutive year, we received the Women in Law Empowerment Forum’s Gold Standard Certification for “law firms that have integrated women into the highest leadership positions in the firm.”

Pro Bono and Public Service

• In 2013, Skadden’s U.S. attorneys averaged about 92 hours of pro bono work, and lawyers, summer associates and legal assistants firmwide spent more than 150,000 hours performing pro bono legal services.
• The Skadden Fellowship Program offers a minimum of 25 two-year paid legal fellowships in the public interest sector each year. To date, 705 fellowships have been awarded.
• We are a Charter Signatory to the Pro Bono Institute’s Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge.