Cleary Gottlieb Earns Exceptional Rankings in Chambers Europe 2023

Cleary Gottlieb continues to receive exceptional rankings as a premier law firm in the latest edition of Chambers Europe.

Cleary earned 29 practice and 66 lawyer rankings in the 2023 guide, 17 of which were top-tier.

Commendations for our firm and lawyers included:

Arbitration (International)

• “The team thinks out of the box and are open to new ideas while being practical.” (Europe-wide)
• “We appreciate the firm’s ability to choose the right counsels, the commitment to the goal and the experience of sophisticated procedures.” (Europe-wide)
• “Cleary has a great culture, nice people, and the ability to work on big international cases.” (Europe-wide)

Banking & Finance

• “Cleary has a great balance of expert knowledge with a realistic commercial approach.” (United Kingdom)
• “The team is absolutely client-focused with quick response times, availability and a thorough understanding of the subject matter.” (United Kingdom)
• “Their debt finance team is comprised of exceptionally smart, commercial and highly committed lawyers who come up with brilliant solutions to meet our objectives.” (United Kingdom)
• “Cleary’s banking team is intelligent, pragmatic, and commercial; it has strong and deep technical knowledge of the market.” (United Kingdom)
• “The firm is able to effectively navigate through complex and multi-jurisdictional mandates while providing sound advice on structuring.” (United Kingdom)

Capital Markets (Debt and Equity)

• “The team has very strong skills to address technical and specific questions. The lawyers also always respond quickly to our queries with detailed answers.” (Europe-wide)
• “The team at Cleary is extremely helpful, very smart and focused on problem solving.” (Europe-wide)
• “Cleary is a true partner and works with us to find the right balance between risk and efficient execution.” (Europe-wide)
• “Cleary is a great firm, we have a top level of service with top advice.” (France)
• “They have a technical and pragmatic approach in handling complex and sophisticated matters.” (Italy)
• “The lawyers are soundly organized and engaged according to the tasks.” (Italy)
• “Cleary are always at the forefront of all arising issues and have great lawyers that can assist with the most complex matters.” (United Kingdom)
• “They always make themselves available, and often work around the clock to deliver.” (United Kingdom)

Competition/European Law

• “The team is absolutely excellent - the lawyers are responsive and their work product is terrific.” (Belgium)
• “The firm’s ability to unravel complex issues in order to provide practical guidance is unmatched.” (Belgium)
• “The team has good knowledge of our working environment and evolution which contributes to an effective handling of the matters.” (France)
• “The team perfectly understands the client’s issues and adapts well to the authority’s processes to best meet the client’s expectations. All the work from Cleary’s teams is extremely rigorous and the lawyers know how to best advise the clients in terms of the process dynamic.” (France)
• “The lawyers are extremely knowledgeable, smart, responsive, and a pleasure to work with.” (Germany)
• “The firm offers cutting-edge knowledge of antitrust law and good relationships with the respective regulatory authorities.” (Germany)
• “We are uniformly impressed by the team’s service levels and responsiveness.” (United Kingdom)
• “The lawyers are incredibly responsive and able to turn around complex matters quickly without losing any quality.” (United Kingdom)

Corporate/M&A

• “The lawyers at Cleary Gottlieb are extremely responsive, on the ball and proactive.” (Belgium)
• “The lawyers are very diligent and able to handle complexity in very difficult processes, and continue to keep a view of the bigger picture while keeping an eye on the details.” (Belgium)
• “The team was very knowledgeable and had great negotiation skills.” (Europe-wide)
• “We chose Cleary Gottlieb for its deep technical expertise in executing complex corporate transactions, its extremely diligent and responsive team and its ability to provide strategic guidance. The teams from each office of the firm are fully integrated and work very well across borders and time zones.” (Europe-wide)
• “We use the team especially for its ability to handle highly complex cross-border transactions. Cleary is number one for our most strategic and complex M&A matters.” (France)
• “The entire team is very good - incredibly hard-working and talented. It is very comfortable for a client to work with a firm like Cleary. The work is very good quality. You don’t even need to ask, it is already done.” (France)
• “Cleary has top-level skills and has some of the best professionals I have ever met. They offer excellent quality and excellent responsiveness.” (Italy)
• “Cleary’s responsiveness is the best in class. They handle sophisticated matters with ease.” (Italy)
• “They are really responsive and are always available when we need them. They are extremely efficient and professional.” (United Kingdom)
• “By far the most responsive team I’ve had the pleasure of working with. In addition, they work with us to address our concerns whether budgetary or staffing-related and promptly work out a solution.” (United Kingdom)

Compliance

• “They are a very well-prepared team. They provide clear advice and feedback.” (Italy)
• “They worked with the highest service levels and offer good responsiveness.” (Italy)
• “The firm has outstanding skills that go beyond legal matters, also embracing technical knowledge.” (Italy)

Dispute Resolution

• “They worked very well both on the procedural aspects and in collaboration with other global offices of the firm.” (Europe-wide)
• “Cleary is well organized and can always give a clear picture of the matter, giving business-oriented support adapted to the framework of the situation.” (Europe-wide)
• “I really enjoyed working with them. They have deep knowledge of disputes and competition law, they make great assessment of cases and have good knowledge of courts and practices. They are also very good at defining a strategy and building a comprehensive case; they truly have great knowledge of cases and you can count on them to always have every detail in mind.” (France)
• “The team is highly competent, responsive, and creative.” (France)
• “The firm is high quality and offers very strong and efficient responsiveness. They are focused and respond quickly, even on complex issues.” (Italy)
• “The team has excellent legal skills, are proactive and available for any type of questions you may have.” (Italy)

Private Equity

• “Cleary Gottlieb is very experienced and provides lots of valuable advice to us.” (Italy) 

Tax

• “Cleary offers an excellent level of service quality, punctuality, and accurate contributions.” (Italy)
• “The firm can effectively leverage its extensive international network to tackle various matters.” (Italy)
• “They are an excellent full-practice team with experience on complex issues. They are extremely responsive and efficient.” (Italy)
• “The team consists of subject-matter experts and experienced professionals. They have a strong track record in transactions and thorough knowledge of the matters.” (Italy)

Telecommunications

• “Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton has a great ability to understand legal frameworks and support clients in legal analysis.” (Italy)

Chambers Europe, which covers 52 countries and includes regional sections, overall cited a wide range of client and competitor feedback about the strength of Cleary’s capabilities across practices, industries, and regions.

To view the firm’s complete Chambers Europe 2023 rankings, click here.