Corporate M&A

[Dennis_923432]

While choosing law firms for VS's or TC's, an important factor I consider is their M&A practice as I have done a few internships in this area. However, 70 to 80% of law firms are experts in this field, with the only difference being how significant deals they are involved in. For someone interested in practising specifically M&A, what are the other criteria's that makes law firms stand out when many firms are experts in the same field? Is it only the deals they are involved in?

 

[Daniel Boden]

While choosing law firms for VS's or TC's, an important factor I consider is their M&A practice as I have done a few internships in this area. However, 70 to 80% of law firms are experts in this field, with the only difference being how significant deals they are involved in. For someone interested in practising specifically M&A, what are the other criteria's that makes law firms stand out when many firms are experts in the same field? Is it only the deals they are involved in?

I would say the size of the deal teams, the lawyers they have at the firm (band 1, recognised practitioners through chambers and partners etc.), the international nature of their transactions, famous clients... there are so many different types of M&A so perhaps you could narrow it down a bit when selecting firms to apply to

 

[Jaysen]

While choosing law firms for VS's or TC's, an important factor I consider is their M&A practice as I have done a few internships in this area. However, 70 to 80% of law firms are experts in this field, with the only difference being how significant deals they are involved in. For someone interested in practising specifically M&A, what are the other criteria's that makes law firms stand out when many firms are experts in the same field? Is it only the deals they are involved in?

Good advice from @Daniel Boden. You are right that many law firms specialise in M&A. You could also look at the kind of M&A they do: lower mid market (Addleshaw Goddard), mid-market (Jones Day), upper mid-market and premium (Freshfields/Links), public M&A (Slaughters) or private equity (Kirkland). You could look at international M&A practices (e.g. Bakers' strengths in emerging market M&A) or if a firm specialises in a particular sector (e.g. life sciences/insurance). If you're looking at what makes a law firm stand out, you could also look at how they're using technology (e.g. Slaughters' use of AI platform Luminance to cut down on due diligence work) or the use of legal services centres (a variety of firms nearshore/offshore due diligence/doc review to help them make their fees more competitive).

 

[gricole]

@Jaysen How would the difference between a mid-market M&A deal and a premium M&A deal impact the work of a trainee solicitor? In other words, would you be doing different things working on a similarly structured transaction in Jones Day or Freshfields/Links?