Sidley Austin LLP

Sidley Austin LLP‘s shareholder activism team is widely renowned as a market-leader. Central to some of the legal world’s largest and most prominent conflicts, the team boasts a record of success spanning takeover attempts, proxy fights and litigation across a huge range of industries. Boasting a top-level dedicated shareholder activism practice and the skills of deep M&A team, the department is led by New York’s Kai Liekefett, recognized widely for his breadth of expertise and for the quantity of top-level, high-profile clients he has served especially in late-stage proxy fights. He is joined from Palo Alto by co-leader Derek Zaba, who excels in the role of outside counsel to assist and provide outside counsel to firms who are already represented, and from Chicago by the highly experienced Beth Berg, whose expertise covers acquisitions, spinoffs, corporate governance, SEC disclosure matters and unsolicited tender offers/takeover defense. Other prominent partners include Boston’s Leonard Wood, an expert in deal with investor pressure regarding ESG issues, and New York’s Jessica Wood and Reuben Zaramian.