List of Top M&A Law Firms - Find the Best in Business
Working with an M&A law team can be a game changer in avoiding costly legal mistakes when selling your business.
The trouble is that finding and managing such a team can be hectic. What do you look for as qualifying pointers? How much will the service cost? Should you work with a full-fledged law firm or a boutique firm?
In today's guide, we explore the top M&A law firms to consider, what to look for, and how Exitwise can help you find, hire, and manage a legal team for a successful business sale.
TL;DR - Top M&A Law Firms
Here's a quick list of the leading M&A law firms we'll discuss in detail in the article:
Kirkland & Ellis
Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP
Latham & Watkins LLP
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
Freshfields US LLP
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton, & Garrison
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP
Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
We understand that choosing the best M&A law firm isn't easy. Also, these firms usually offer only legal advice, but a business sale needs more than that.
That’s why at Exitwise, we help business owners, CEOs, and founders find and work with their dream merger and acquisition teams. We can connect you with the best M&A lawyers near you to help you with all the legal aspects of selling your business.
We ensure the experts we connect you with specialize in your industry. Their industry-specific strategies and insights can help you sell your business faster and maximize your exit value.
Reach out to our team today to hire the best M&A attorneys to optimize your exit.
M&A Law Firms vs. Boutique M&A Firms
The nature of your business and the complexity or simplicity of the M&A transaction can necessitate choosing between a boutique and a full-fledged M&A law firm.
M&A Law Firms
Here are some M&A law firm pointers to guide you:
Larger Workforce: Full-fledged M&A law firms are usually large with respect to the size of the workforce, distribution of offices, and revenues. You can easily have more lawyers working on your exit.
More Service and Transaction Types: Large merger and acquisition law firms offer a wider range of services and types of transactions. You can expect help with private equity, joint ventures, leveraged buyouts, distressed transactions, IPOs, and corporate governance advice.
Potentially Higher Costs: Large M&A firms typically have costly services because of their strong reputation. They also have high overhead costs, which trickle down to the clients.
You can use a large M&A law firm if your business is complex and you expect a colossal transaction with a complex deal structure.
Boutique M&A Firms
If you are more inclined to a boutique merger and acquisition law firm, here are some pointers why it might be the better choice:
More Personalized Services: Boutique M&A firms are smaller in terms of revenue, size of the workforce, and physical presence. Because of their smaller size, you can enjoy a more tailored or personalized approach, which can potentially lead to a more favorable outcome.
Specific Industry Knowledge and Experience: Boutique firms usually specialize in a specific industry and have more experience than larger firms.
Potentially Cheaper Services: Boutique firms can be less costly than larger firms as their operations and overhead expenses are lower.
Boutique firms are ideal for smaller M&A transactions, which are often under-serviced by large M&A firms.
The Role of M&A Law Firms in Facilitating Mergers and Acquisitions
Whether you work with a large or boutique M&A law firm, the role of M&A lawyers includes aspects such as:
Preparing or responding to the various documents needed to sell a business, such as M&A NDA and merger agreements.
Collaborating with other M&A experts, such as financial accountants, investment bankers, and wealth advisors.
Formulating an exit strategy that aligns with your business and personal goals.
Ensuring your business sale complies with the law and current regulations.
Conducting comprehensive research and analysis to inform negotiations.
Protecting your legal interests.
Sell-side legal due diligence (reverse due diligence).
Legal due diligence on the buyer.
Assisting with post-sale integration.
Providing legal advice throughout and even after the sale.
Helping resolve disputes regarding purchase price issues, representations and warranties, and indemnification, among others.
What to Look For in the Best M&A Law Firms
Knowing the different qualifying aspects to consider can make hiring and working with the right M&A law firm easier.
You should ensure the following when choosing between the top mergers and acquisitions law firms:
Industry Experience: At Exitwise, we are all for hiring M&A experts with specific industry knowledge and experience. M&A law firms are no exception. Check that the target firm specializes in your industry and has knowledge of market trends, regulatory issues, and common deal structures in the sector.
Track Record and Reputation: Check the firm's M&A success rate across different deal types, including mergers, ESOPs, and acquisitions. Ask for feedback or professional references from past clients.
Resource Availability: Your M&A law firm must have enough experienced lawyers to assign to your M&A process.
Cost-Effectiveness: You'll want to work with a firm that uses a transparent fee structure to avoid unexpected costs that could significantly reduce your profits.
Excellent Client Support and Communication: Look for a firm that prioritizes customer service and communication. They should consult with you as much as possible since you know your business better. You also deserve to stay informed of progress, including any potential legal risks.
List of Top M&A Law Firms Globally
In this section, we’ll discuss the best mergers and acquisitions law firms in greater detail.
Before we dive into it, it's important to note that while law firms provide excellent legal assistance, you would also need to consider other aspects of a business sale.
You'll need help valuing the business, improving its value, understanding the tax impact of the sale, and even handling or investing the proceeds.
Finding the right experts to help with each aspect can be difficult. That's where Exitwise can help. Our team connects you with the best M&A experts in your industry.
We streamline the entire sell-side M&A process by helping you find, recruit, hire, and manage your dream M&A team.
Here's how our proven system works:
Connecting You with M&A Experts: Our main aim is to create optimal exit strategies for businesses on sale. To do this, we only connect you with specialized M&A experts who can offer industry-specific strategies and insights.
These experts include M&A attorneys from top M&A law firms, finance accountants, wealth advisors, and investment bankers. We carefully select all our experts from our global network of pre-vetted and pre-qualified M&A professionals, depending on your needs.
Helping You Review Top Experts: We explore which of the top M&A experts are best for your business exit. We discuss their transaction history, pros and cons, and how much they estimate your business to be worth. We then set up times for you to chat with them to make your decision easier.
Negotiating Terms and Hiring Experts: Once you've made your top choices, we negotiate the best terms of engagement and fees with each expert on your behalf. We then obtain each expert's signatures, get everyone to work, and help you manage them until your business sells.
Schedule a chat with us at Exitwise to find the best M&A lawyer (and other experts) to help you sell your business faster and for more money.
Now, let’s discuss the top M&A legal firms:
1. Kirkland & Ellis
Kirkland & Ellis is renowned for extensive expertise and experience in high-caliber national and international public M&A deals.
The law firm serves clients across various industries, including healthcare, energy, food and beverage, and technology.
You can expect comprehensive services across departments such as M&A litigation, antitrust and competition, taxes, intellectual property, and finance.
They also help with merger clearance, joint ventures, and sports transactions.
According to their website, Kirkland has advised companies such as Lexitas, Kito Crosby, Fransisco Partners and TA Associates, and Richards Manufacturing Co. across various deals.
2. Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP
With a history spanning over two centuries, Cravath is one of the top law firms in the country.
The law firm has a rich history of completing large M&A deals. One of the most recent ones is the acquisition of Intra-Cellular Therapies, Inc. by Johnson & Johnson. Cravath acted for the buy side.
Cravath also represented the sell side in Zimmer Biomet's acquisition of Paragon 28 Inc., a top medical device company.
With Cravath, you can expect legal assistance with mergers, joint ventures, acquisitions, spin-offs, and selling off subsidiaries. They can also help you with shareholder activism defense and hostile takeovers.
The firm serves businesses in technology and telecommunications, healthcare, energy, media and entertainment, and consumer products.
3. Latham & Watkins LLP
An American multinational law firm, Latham & Watkins LLP has M&A capabilities in antitrust challenges, overcoming shareholder activism, tax advice, leveraged finance, and earn-outs.
Latham recently secured a ruling that upheld the firm's trial win regarding Oracle's acquisition of NetSuite.
4. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
Skadden has mergers and acquisitions capabilities in corporate governance, private equity, shareholder engagement and activism, and asset management.
The firm's extensive M&A experience spans acquisitions, mergers, joint ventures, carve-outs, and management buyouts.
Skadden has handled some of the largest and most complicated local and international transactions, such as the sale of Russell Investments, Epoch Holdings, and First Eagle Investment Management.
5. Freshfields US LLP
As a global law firm, Freshfields has over 280 years of experience across different services and industries, including mergers and acquisitions.
You can expect M&A help with carve-outs, corporate governance, public M&A, joint ventures, and private M&A.
Freshfields helps with domestic and cross-border transactions regarding antitrust matters, tax, finance, and shareholder activism.
The firm has been successful in deals such as the Roivant Sciences’ sale of Telavant to Roche.
6. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton, & Garrison
Paul, Weiss is known for having some of the best M&A lawyers representing the world's largest privately held companies, private equity firms, and publicly traded companies.
You can expect help with M&A litigations, antitrust, private equity, corporate governance, and other services across insurance, energy, media, technology, and sports industries.
7. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Wachtell Lipton is one of the top global business law firms with extensive experience advising both public and private sector acquirees and acquirers.
The firm helps with spin-offs and split-ups, shareholder activism, corporate governance, takeover defense, and domestic and cross-border M&A transactions.
8. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP
Simpson Thacher has over 140 years of collective experience dedicated to client success across various services and industries.
The firm provides mergers and acquisitions services, such as private equity, antitrust and trade regulation, asset management, unsolicited mergers, buyouts, and spin-offs.
9. Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
The Davis Polk M&A team takes pride in its first-rate services and success in executing innovative M&A transactions.
The firm has advised companies such as Royalty Pharma, Teoxane, Cintas, and Paychex across various acquisitions. On the sell-side, the firm has recently advised Intra-Cellular Therapies on its acquisition by Johnson & Johnson.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are answers to common questions people usually ask about hiring M&A law firms:
What Services Do M&A Attorneys Provide?
M&A attorneys provide a wide range of services, such as:
Legal due diligence
Structuring M&A transactions
Legal advice on the tax implications of selling a business
Drafting or negotiating contracts and other business selling documents
Post-closing support for any arising legal issues
International and cross-border M&A advice
M&A financing advice
What Is the Difference Between an M&A Law Firm and a Corporate Law Firm?
M&A law firms are a type of specialization under corporate law.
An M&A law firm can primarily handle transactions and matters related to mergers and acquisitions.
On the other hand, a corporate law firm deals with a wider range of business legal matters, which can include mergers and acquisitions.
How Are M&A Law Firms Ranked in the Industry?
M&A ranking for law firms is typically based on deal volume, reputation of the firm, annual firm revenue, and market share vis-a-vis transaction value.
Why Should I Hire an M&A Law Firm Instead of an In-House Legal Team?
Here's why hiring an M&A law firm is a better idea than an in-house legal team:
Working with an M&A law firm can be more cost-effective in the long run as you don't have to pay the many employee benefits needed for an in-house legal team.
M&A law firms typically have a wider range of expertise and experience in complex M&A deals and negotiation tactics.
M&A law firms maintain neutrality and objectivity because they do not have the conflicts of interest typical of in-house teams.
What Are the Costs Associated with Hiring an M&A Law Firm?
When you hire an M&A law firm, you can expect to pay legal fees based on billable hours, a percentage of the transaction value, or fixed charges.
At Exitwise, we negotiate fees with M&A experts on your behalf to ensure you are charged fairly and without any hidden costs.
Conclusion
Hiring and working with a top merger and acquisition law firm can be challenging. Our guide is a good starting point, but we can help you select the best one. Additionally, you’ll need further help because law firms don’t handle all the aspects of a business sale.
You’ll need more experts, such as investment bankers, financial accountants, and wealth advisors. We can guide you through the entire M&A process until your business is sold.
We can connect you with top M&A lawyers and other experts in your industry, helping you interview, hire, and work with them. We even negotiate the best terms of engagement and fees on your behalf.
Consult with us at Exitwise today to find and work with the top M&A law firms for a faster sale and more money.
