Cleary Gottlieb Lawyers and Practices Earn Exceptional Rankings in Legal 500 U.S. 2023

Cleary Gottlieb lawyers and practices continue to receive superb recognition in the 2023 edition of The Legal 500 U.S.

In the most recent rankings, the firm received nine “Hall of Fame” rankings, 39 “Leading Lawyer” rankings, 20 “Next Generation Partner” rankings, and five “Rising Star” rankings.

The firm also earned 44 practice rankings, 16 of which were Tier 1.

Cleary was recognized as a Tier 1 firm in the following practice areas:

• Antitrust: Cartel
• Antitrust: Civil Litigation/Class Actions: Defense
• Antitrust: Merger Control
• Dispute Resolution: Corporate Investigations and White-collar Criminal Defense: Advice to Corporates
• Dispute Resolution: e-Discovery
• Dispute Resolution: Financial Services: Litigation
• Dispute Resolution: International Litigation
• Dispute Resolution: Securities Litigation: Defense
• Finance: Capital Markets: Global Offerings – Advice to Issuers
• Finance: Capital Markets: Global Offerings – Advice to Underwriters
• Finance: Financial Services: Regulation
• Finance: Structured Finance: Derivatives and Structured Products
• Labor and Employment: Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation and Retirement Plans: Transactional 
• Real Estate: Real Estate Finance
• Tax: Financial Products
• U.S. Taxes: Non-contentious

Select feedback from clients and peers included:

• Antitrust: Cartel: “The team has outstanding depth and experience at dealing with cartel matters, for companies, and for individuals. They have credibility and trust with the regulators (DOJ in particular in this case), which allows them to gauge extremely well how best to navigate an investigation with the government and advise on seeking leniency, fighting, etc.”
• Antitrust: Merger Control: “Cleary has a premier U.S. merger control practice. Their team is comprised of people who have deep experience in all areas of antitrust, including complex mergers at both major agencies (FTC/DOJ). The senior lawyers in the group also have strong litigation experience, enabling them to carry a merger through not only the investigation stage, but also through any courtroom challenge if/when that arises. They are the go-to firm on the hardest deals that raise the most complex issues. They have excellent credibility and relationships with government lawyers, and are highly respected at the agencies and throughout the bar.’”
• Dispute Resolution: Corporate Investigations and White-Collar Criminal Defense: Advice to Corporates: “The Cleary team was outstanding. In my case, they demonstrated out of the box thinking and were less focused on courtroom proceedings and more focused on engaging with the prosecuting teams”; “It is a given that the firm has smart lawyers. What sets them apart is that they effectively communicate with business managers and the C-Suite in a concise, easy-to-follow manner.”
• Dispute Resolution: e-Discovery: “The technical knowledge of the Cleary discovery team is ahead of other firms. Cleary remains an early adopter of LegalTech and their in-depth understanding of the underlying technology allows the team to come up with bespoke, cost efficient, and timely solutions for their clients”; “The Cleary team is leading change in the way we conduct discovery in litigation across jurisdictions.”
• Finance: Capital Markets: “The team represents the ideal combination of good, senior know-how, and efficient allocation of resources”; “Working with Cleary Gottlieb is unique as they are a full service firm, and their teams cover every area of expertise required for an offering. They are up to speed when required, and they create very good relationships with clients”; “The Cleary team provides true white glove service to get to the best outcomes.”
• Finance: Commercial Lending: “The right balance of legal, administrative, and relationship skills employed with clients, counterparties, and all parties involved in transactions is just what companies are looking for and what makes Cleary stand out”; “They are willing to go the extra mile, be it with the quality of the work or by learning the language that their clients speak”; “I’ve worked with this team for over five years now and would never consider changing. The level of knowledge of the business, industry, credit and debt facilities, and debt finance market is second to none. They are extremely professional, responsive, and communicative.”
• Finance: Fintech: “The expertise of each individual team member is apparent, and there is no ego when deferring to others for any particular topic. We have found multiple touchpoints due to the flexibility and willingness of the team to connect dots”; “Cleary’s banking and financial institutions practice is unparalleled in its expertise, insight, connections with U.S. regulators, and ability to give practical advice informed by decades of deep industry insight.”
• Finance: Restructuring (including Bankruptcy): Corporate: “Cleary brings big-firm breadth, capabilities, and expertise while offering a client-centric quality of service. In particular, their ability to work effectively across practice areas compares very favorably with other firms”; “What I value most about the Cleary partners and associates with whom I have worked is the ‘roll up your sleeves,’ no-attitude approach to driving outcomes. In contrast with my experiences with many other firms, there is limited ‘speechifying’ and navigating strong personalities. They dispatch their responsibilities efficiently and with a solid technical understanding of the law while bringing creativity and thought leadership not always observed when working with big firms.”
• Finance: Structured Finance: Derivatives and Structured Products: “Cleary is able to provide comprehensive support from a transactional side. Given the experience of their bankruptcy experts in providing transactional support, it often leads to a very experienced regulatory team that is able to provide holistic views”; “We have always found the team an absolute pleasure to deal with, super quick to respond with concise and helpful analysis on complex points of law. The team was able to distil the issues for us into clear and easy to follow practical advice.”
• Investment Fund Formation and Management: Private Equity Funds (Including Venture Capital): “My experiences have been universally positive. The entire Cleary team is very responsive and knowledgeable … The Cleary team brings knowledge of the latest developments in practice and the law to bear as well as incredibly focused critical thinking.”
• M&A/Corporate and Commercial: Corporate Governance: “A rare team of lawyers, which has an incredible grasp of the law and gives practical advice that is tailored to your business (not just the rules, and not just what you can do, but what, in their opinion, you should do). They can do this because they take the time to understand the people/culture of an organization.”
• M&A/Corporate and Commercial: Private Equity Buyouts: “The team has great client service and responsiveness, offering strong lawyers across a variety of practice areas.”
• Real Estate: “The team is extremely experienced and knowledgeable on deals throughout the United States.”
• Tax: International Tax: “The Cleary team is approachable – quite simply they are great people to work with.”

View Cleary’s complete results on The Legal 500’s website.