Experienced lawyers

Our global Corporate practice undertakes many of the most high-profile and complex multi-jurisdictional transactions. With over 900 lawyers worldwide, and 76% of those lawyers being based outside of London, this practice works together as one on behalf of clients who include many of the world's leading corporations, financial institutions and government bodies—as well as smaller growing businesses.

Our Corporate and Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) practice has advised on multi-billion dollar transactions over the last few years for clients such as Novartis, GE, Tyco, SAP and Thomson Reuters. We advise on all types of public and private M&A transactions. Our team includes lawyers specializing in antitrust, tax, environmental, regulatory matters, litigation, employment/benefits and intellectual property. We are able to call upon both U.S. and locally qualified M&A lawyers in most of the financial centers around the world including London, Frankfurt, Tokyo and Shanghai. We coordinate cross-border deals from New York with our U.S. and locally qualified lawyers across our international network.

We represent underwriters, arrangers and U.S. domestic and foreign issuers on the full range of debt and equity capital market transactions, including SEC-registered offerings, Rule 144A and Regulation S offerings, American and Global Depositary receipts offerings, convertible bonds and equity warrants, with a particular focus on Latin America and the Caribbean region.

We have a wide-ranging transactional and advisory practice, with particular focus on strategic credit and other fixed income derivatives transactions and on innovative, tailored solutions to managing risk for financial institutions. With the credit crunch, we have been especially busy advising on the termination, liquidation and valuation of swaps, repos, securities lending agreements and other structured products, as well as related set-off, netting and collateral issues.

Our Employment and Benefits (E&B) department comprises some of the market’s leading practitioners across employment, pensions and incentives, with over 180 lawyers located across 22 jurisdictions.

Consistently highly ranked in the legal tables in each of the three areas, we offer high-quality advice on issues such as boardroom disputes, employee discrimination, executive remuneration and tax issues, complex pension arrangements or complex cross-border transactional issues.

The E&B practice works as part of an integrated team with our corporate M&A lawyers, not only in carrying out projects, but in winning them too as most large scale M&A transactions involve HR issues which can often be critical to the outcome of a transaction.

Allen & Overy’s global Environmental Law group includes more than 60 specialist, commercially focused environmental law experts in Asia Pacific, Europe and the Americas, advising on all aspects of environmental law and liability. As one of the first law firms to develop a globally integrated environmental law practice, Allen & Overy is able to provide both transactional and stand alone advice in all the major areas of environmental and health and safety law at national, regional and international levels.

Our geographic reach, including the transfer of knowledge between different offices and jurisdictions, means that we are able to keep abreast of the latest environmental initiatives and legislative developments occurring around the globe.

Allen & Overy fields one of the market’s pre-eminent banking practices with over 650 lawyers worldwide. We are at the heart of the world’s financial markets and have been instrumental in nearly all the major banking developments in the modern era. We count among our clients numerous global corporate and financial institutions that entrust us with the full range of domestic and cross-border transactions and rely on the depth and breadth of our expertise, intellectual rigor and proven track record of finding successful and commercially astute solutions.

Our banking practice is split into eight product lines: General Lending, Investment Funds, Leveraged Finance, Project Finance, Real Estate Finance, Structured Asset Finance, Financial Services Regulatory, and Restructuring.

The U.S. Financial Services Regulatory (U.S. FSR) practice has primary bases in New York, Europe and Asia. We have over 200 U.S. qualified lawyers practicing in international offices outside the U.S—many of whom are part of the core U.S. FSR practice, or who provide advice to clients on particular U.S. FSR issues across all the world’s principal financial markets. The practice offersndistinctive international U.S. regulatory that is unmatched by our competitors.

In conjunction with our São Paulo office, this highly integrated group of attorneys focuses on corporate finance, including projects, capital markets, banking, derivatives, securitization, M&A, restructuring and insolvency. Our office has worked on some of the most high-profile transactions and international arbitrations in Latin America. Our work focuses on key industries, including power, oil and gas, mining, infrastructure and telecommunications, as well as a sovereign practice representing governments and government-owned entities.

Our Litigation practice brings together lawyers with enormous experience handling and resolving many of the major headline financial and commercial disputes both internationally and in the United States. This group includes four former Assistant United States Attorneys for the Southern District of New York, two former Chiefs of that office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force, and the former President of the New York City Bar Association.

Arbitration is one of the most popular methods of resolving disputes that have an international element. During the last decade, the number of international arbitration proceedings, including investment treaty claims, has grown dramatically and so too has the complexity and value of those proceedings. We have an international network of attorneys who can bridge the legal and cultural divide of international arbitrations and investment treaty claims, and have the expertise to ensure that our clients' rights and reputations are protected.

Comprising over 50 partners and some 150 lawyers globally, the Projects group at Allen & Overy is a market leader in terms of both experience and global coverage. We advise governments, sponsors, banks, ECAs, MLAs and project companies on projects and project financings throughout the world.

The Projects group advises on public-private partnerships/private finance initiatives, project financings and developments in all sectors, including roads, bridges and tunnels, renewables, health, education and prisons, rail infrastructure, airport construction, oil and gas, power and accommodation.

Our Real Estate practice primarily involves real estate debt and equity investment throughout the United States for domestic and international institutions and funds. Our practice is capital markets and private equity fund focused, and includes primarily large loan, mezzanine, A/B and preferred equity origination, securitization, the sponsorship and investment in real estate investment funds, secondary market debt acquisitions, loan workouts, real estate mergers and acquisitions, joint venture structuring and complex real estate acquisitions.

Our attorneys are not just skilled in real estate matters but have wide experience of indirect real estate acquisitions, real estate investment funds, joint ventures and negotiating corporate style documentation. It is our international reach and use of sophisticated structuring techniques for indirect as well as direct real estate investment that differentiates us from many of our competitors, and is responsible for our reputation as a high quality real estate investment practice that is seen as one the market’s leading teams.

Allen & Overy's global Restructuring and Insolvency group is the premier practice within the global market and continues to advise on the majority of the largest and most high profile deals. The group remains at the forefront of commercial and legal developments enabling it to continue to meet the demands of a wide range of clients against the ever evolving legal backdrop.

With over 130 lawyers worldwide (combining Asian, Continental European, UK and U.S. restructuring and insolvency experience) we are able to offer a fully integrated approach to international restructurings and insolvencies as well as dealing with domestic insolvencies in all key jurisdictions.

Our New York Financial Restructuring group has extensive experience in U.S.-based and multi-jurisdictional restructurings, both in bankruptcy court proceedings and out-of-court restructurings. Our group represents issuers, financial institutions, holders of public debt and debtors, as well as acquirers of businesses or assets of financially distressed companies. We also have a successful Insurance Insolvency practice, acting for U.S. insurers and in cross-border proceedings involving foreign insurers.

We are ranked Tier 1 for Structured Finance and Securitization across all the leading legal directories, including Chambers, IFLR and Legal 500. Our team advises on the full range of securitization structures and asset classes and prides itself on delivering a commercial, responsive service to clients.

We advise both domestic and international corporations and financial institutions investing in China and Chinese enterprises investing in the Americas. Our group focuses on project financings, foreign direct investment, M&A, private equity, real estate and environmental law. Our group includes lawyers fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese.