McDermott Will & Schulte, a global law firm

Transactions can strengthen your business by helping you access capital, pursue growth opportunities, and enter new markets – but they also carry risks that can have lasting consequences. Our corporate and transactional lawyers structure transactions that drive growth while managing legal, regulatory, and commercial exposure.

Our lawyers collaborate across offices worldwide to provide coordinated counsel on domestic and cross-border transactions. Our corporate law practice guides you through commercial agreements, mergers and acquisitions, financings, restructurings, and governance matters designed to support your business strategy.

We also advise on sophisticated capital formation and investment structures, including capital raises, PIPE transactions, SPAC-related matters, and other strategic financing arrangements that provide flexible access to capital in evolving markets.

Beyond execution, our corporate and transactional lawyers address the challenges that shape long-term deal success, including:

• Post-merger integration and reorganizations
• Cross-border governance and operating structures
• Commercial contracts and change-of-control issues
• Intellectual property and asset organization
• Tax, treasury, and operational continuity planning
• Workforce and benefits integration
• Legacy liabilities and dispute exposure

Managing a large volume of transactions can quickly become resource intensive. Our technology-enabled transactional legal services team combines sophisticated AI review tools with experienced transactional lawyers to streamline due diligence, contract negotiation, and contract management – helping you scale quality and consistency across a high volume of matters.

From capital formation to post-closing integration, we help you navigate transactions strategically while managing the legal and operational issues that impact business performance. Our lawyers structure and execute deals that mitigate risk and support long-term growth.

Every employment decision shapes how your workforce performs – impacting your culture, reputation, and revenue. Our employment lawyers help your business move forward by managing risk across the employee life cycle – from hiring and onboarding to performance management, retention, and separation.

We go beyond reactive advice by partnering with you to anticipate risk. By taking the time to understand your business and your industry, we stay attuned to emerging workplace trends. Our employment lawyers help you address issues early, reducing the likelihood of disputes or regulatory scrutiny that can be costly and disruptive to your operations.

We partner with you to develop workplace policies that limit legal exposure and strengthen culture, help you comply with ever-evolving laws and regulations around the world, and negotiate contracts designed to protect your interests and align incentives across your organization.

To support global workforces, our employment lawyers work together seamlessly from offices worldwide, providing coordinated, cross-border guidance. We advise on issues across the full spectrum of employment law – from day-to-day advice and policy development to C-suite and board advisory, as well as bet-the-company litigation.

When high-stakes disputes arise, we assemble teams with the specific experience required to litigate the claims at issue – including highly specialized and complex matters. This approach has contributed to our strong track record in labor and employment litigation.

Our employment practice supports your organization at every stage of growth. We provide guidance that is grounded in how your business operates, partnering with you to mitigate workforce risk so you can drive your business forward.

Data gives businesses the power to make informed decisions and compete more effectively – but collecting, storing, and using data can result in legal and regulatory exposure. Our cybersecurity lawyers help you navigate that risk while supporting the strategic use of data to enhance your business operations.

We advise on all aspects of data, privacy, and cybersecurity, from developing compliance frameworks and implementing defensible security standards to counseling on product development, AI integration, digital marketing, and data monetization strategies. We also help clients navigate cross-border data transfers, incident response and data breach matters, investigations, regulatory scrutiny, and litigation.

Privacy, cybersecurity, and data governance issues touch every part of your business. Our cybersecurity lawyers collaborate across key practice areas including technology, transactions, litigation, employment, investigations, and regulatory to address risk wherever it arises. The team also includes engineers and computer coders, former in-house counsel, and former senior government officials, including cybercrime prosecutors.

Our lawyers helped shape major privacy frameworks – including the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) and the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). We also advise on other evolving state, federal, and international privacy laws, including the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), the e-Privacy regulation, and sector-specific requirements.

We work with you to assess cybersecurity maturity, identify gaps, and develop tailored risk mitigation strategies. When incidents occur, we help you respond to data breaches, ransomware attacks, insider threats, and other cybersecurity incidents with a focus on limiting business disruption and financial exposure. Our cybersecurity lawyers also guide you through sensitive investigations, regulatory scrutiny, litigation, and other disputes that arise from the misuse, loss, or theft of data.

Managing the legal and regulatory exposure associated with data use has become more complex as technologies advance and cyber threats become more sophisticated. We help you mitigate data, privacy, and cybersecurity risk through integrated strategies designed to protect your business, advance innovation, and support growth.

Intellectual property is a core driver of enterprise value. Across every stage of your innovation life cycle – from development and protection to commercialization and enforcement – our intellectual property lawyers support your growth. We navigate the complexities of IP law to help you attract investment, strengthen your market position, and drive long-term value.

Our team includes more than 100 lawyers and professionals globally, and most of them hold technical degrees in science and engineering. We partner with you to secure, monetize, and defend the IP rights that drive your business forward – from patents and trade secrets to trademarks and copyrights.

Through a coordinated global strategy, we build IP portfolios designed to protect your core technologies, products, and brands across jurisdictions. We also develop frameworks to protect trade secrets and structure sophisticated licensing and enforcement strategies to help you monetize your IP assets.

When disputes arise, our IP lawyers represent you in high-stakes matters that can impact market access and put revenue streams at risk. We have significant experience enforcing and defending IP rights across key forums, including US federal district courts and appellate courts, as well as proceedings before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and US International Trade Commission (ITC). We also represent clients in courts across key jurisdictions in Europe and Asia.

In highly regulated sectors – including healthcare and life sciences – we guide you through the intersection of IP and regulatory frameworks to support commercialization and preserve access to critical markets. We also lead IP due diligence in high-value transactions where IP assets are central to valuation, including M&A deals, investments, strategic collaborations, and licensing arrangements.

In competitive markets, IP assets play an essential role in differentiating your business and protecting your market position. Through a comprehensive and integrated strategy, our IP lawyers help you build and sustain a competitive advantage across global markets.

Disputes can disrupt your operations, drain resources, and create uncertainty that affects business performance. Our litigation and dispute resolution lawyers help you navigate high-stakes disputes while reducing uncertainty, managing risk, and protecting your long-term business interests.

Our litigation and dispute resolution practice is comprised of experienced litigators and trial lawyers throughout the US and Europe. Working across practices, we provide integrated counsel tailored to complex disputes. By combining industry- and practice-specific knowledge with trial and appellate experience, we assess how disputes are likely to evolve and adapt your strategy accordingly.

Our lawyers guide you through every stage of a dispute – from early case assessment through litigation, trial, and appeal. With a dedicated appellate practice that has handled hundreds of appeals, including matters before the US Supreme Court, we approach cases with trial and appellate strategies aligned from the outset.

When litigation is not the most effective path forward, we partner with you to resolve disputes through arbitration and mediation. Our lawyers represent you in proceedings before the American Arbitration Association (AAA), the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), and other arbitral bodies – helping you control risk, maintain confidentiality, and preserve business relationships.

In addition to commercial disputes, we advise you on sensitive investigations and government enforcement actions. We conduct internal investigations involving allegations of misconduct, compliance issues, and potential regulatory violations. We also represent you in proceedings involving the US Department of Justice (DOJ), the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), self-regulatory organizations, stock exchanges, and other state and federal agencies.

Our litigation and dispute resolution lawyers understand how disputes can affect your business and reputation. By combining litigation experience with practical business insight, we help you assess risk, reduce uncertainty, and determine the most effective path forward – whether through litigation or strategic resolution outside the courtroom.