Cleary Gottlieb is a pioneer in globalizing the legal profession.
Since 1946 our lawyers and staff have worked across practices, industries, jurisdictions and continents to provide clients with simple, actionable approaches to their most complex legal and business challenges, whether domestic or international. We support every client relationship with intellectual agility, commercial acumen and a human touch.
We have a proven track record for serving with innovation. We are fluent in the many languages of local and global business. And we have achieved consistent success in multiple jurisdictions.
Clients know Cleary for our signature approach to serving their needs:
One World, One Firm
We have 16 offices in major financial centers around the world, but we operate as a single, integrated global partnership and not a U.S. firm with a network of overseas locations.
Clients
We serve:
Partnership and Firm Culture
Our firm’s organization and governance emphasize democratic and participatory ideals. To promote the full application of Cleary’s resources in the best service of our clients’ needs, we operate on a seniority-based compensation system for all of our lawyers and we expect each partner to contribute equally to the firm’s success.
We strive to admit to our partnership lawyers with demonstrated qualities of character, leadership and intelligence, who have the proven legal skills that will enable them to contribute significantly to our practice over the long term.
Our associates also actively participate in a number of important committees in various offices on a range of issues, including diversity, professional development and recruiting.
Consistent with the vision of our founders, Cleary remains committed to building a community focused on openness, diversity, individuality and collegiality. Learn more about our firm’s diversity initiatives here.
The essence of the firm’s culture is represented by our lawyers: talented and intellectually accomplished people of all nationalities, races and interests, who believe that the practice of law is a privilege that carries responsibility. Together we apply our legal knowledge for the benefit of those in need, dedicating a substantial amount of time and resources to pro bono legal work and other community activities. Learn more about Cleary’s pro bono program here.
Cleary Gottlieb represents a diverse range of international and domestic companies and financial institutions in large-scale mergers, acquisitions and standard-setting transactions in the United States, Europe, Latin America and Asia.
Since 2009, Cleary has been counsel in over 1,500 completed M&A transactions worldwide valued at over $3.1 trillion, including more than 700 cross-border transactions valued at over $1.2 trillion (Thomson Reuters). Our lawyers advise on all aspects of the sale process, including working with the company’s financial advisors and board to ensure that the process is managed effectively. The firm’s M&A teams have experience in all aspects of corporate governance, helping clients prepare for and respond to activism and proxy contests and any related litigation.
Our unified global practice has over 300 lawyers focusing on aspects of M&A, and most of our M&A partners globally are rated as leaders in their field by authoritative publications such as Chambers and The American Lawyer.
The M&A teams in the U.S., Europe, Latin America and Asia have deep knowledge of local law and business custom and a peerless global reputation for handling headline transactions across the full array of industries. Cleary coordinates the firm-wide efforts of corporate, securities, finance, antitrust, tax, and executive compensation and benefits lawyers to advise companies and their boards on:
Cleary Gottlieb’s intellectual property practice offers our clients the complete range of legal services for enforcing, defending, commercializing, exploiting and acquiring patents, copyrights, trade secrets, trademarks, and data, whether standalone, in M&A deals, or in a variety of other transactions.
Our clients’ most valuable assets are often their intellectual property and data, and associated products and technology. Cleary lawyers leverage a full-service global practice to address corporate, privacy, tax, antitrust, and other issues that impact IP in financial services, telecommunications, information technology, e-commerce, computer hardware and software, consumer products, fashion, media and entertainment, metals and mining, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, and other industries.
Clients from around the world and a wide range of industries rely on the firm’s intellectual property litigation and arbitration experience, and when intellectual property disputes are fought in multiple jurisdictions, Cleary’s global reach sets us apart.
Cleary Gottlieb’s real estate practice is diversified and global, spanning the full range of transaction types, regions, and asset classes.
The firm has a long-standing record of advising on large and high-profile real estate acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures, financings, and restructurings.
For more than 70 years, Cleary has been a pioneer in real estate law across the globe, with lawyers in 16 international offices providing practical and innovative solutions to the business real estate needs of a wide range of U.S. and multinational clients.
