McDermott Will & Schulte, a global law firm

Regulators are placing greater scrutiny on transactions, pricing practices, and competitor conduct. Our antitrust lawyers partner with you to pursue strategic growth opportunities while navigating regulatory pressure across global markets – helping you reduce the risk of business disruption, financial exposure, and reputational damage.

Our antitrust lawyers provide coordinated guidance across US and international competition laws. From strategic transactions and government investigations to commercial counseling and competition disputes, we work with you to manage antitrust risk wherever it arises.

We represent companies and individuals in antitrust investigations, enforcement actions, and competition disputes across US and international markets. Our lawyers advise you on matters involving the US Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), European Commission, EU Member State authorities, and other global competition agencies. We guide you through cartel investigations, class actions, civil antitrust litigation, and other regulatory proceedings tied to antitrust and competition law.

We also help you navigate merger clearance, foreign investment reviews, competition approvals, and regulatory filing strategies. We regularly serve as specialized antitrust counsel focused on merger clearance and competition approvals in complex domestic and cross-border transactions.

Competition laws influence your day-to-day business operations. To help you manage risk under evolving antitrust requirements, our lawyers advise you on pricing strategies, distribution structures, competitor collaborations, trade association conduct, exclusive arrangements, and compliance programs. By understanding how regulators evaluate competitive conduct, we guide you to make informed business decisions that reduce antitrust exposure.

Antitrust and competition issues frequently involve overlapping considerations. Our antitrust lawyers partner with you to manage competition risk across jurisdictions. Whether you are pursuing a transaction, structuring a commercial arrangement, or responding to a government investigation, we help you navigate regulatory scrutiny strategically while protecting your ability to compete and grow across global markets.

When financial distress threatens business operations, decisive action is required. Our business restructuring lawyers help stabilize struggling companies and maximize stakeholder returns. We deliver clear, actionable guidance to turn complex insolvency challenges into opportunities for recovery and strategic growth – or acquisition.

For companies facing insolvency, our business restructuring lawyers guide you through the legal process to restructure liabilities and engineer effective rescue packages. By stabilizing your financial foundation, we help you preserve enterprise value and position your business for long-term profitability. Our deep industry experience spans multiple sectors, with a focus on healthcare.

Navigating cross-border insolvency requires seamless global counsel. We apply our deep knowledge of business restructuring law, including US Chapters 11 and 15, European Insolvency Regulation, and the UNCITRAL model law. Our international reach ensures we are well positioned to protect your assets and enforce your claims across multiple jurisdictions, minimizing disruption to your global operations.

Distressed markets also create unique opportunities for creditors and investors. Our business restructuring services help creditors achieve enhanced financial recoveries on their investments. For strategic buyers, we identify and execute the acquisition of troubled assets, driving immediate ROI and expanding your market share at favorable valuations.

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.

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.

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.

Technology shapes how your business operates, competes, and grows – but the legal and regulatory complexities behind it can create significant risk. We help you navigate these challenges by structuring technology transactions, agreements, and strategic partnerships that accelerate innovation, support growth, and protect your business.

We advise stakeholders across the technology sector – from emerging startups and global platform providers to enterprise customers, investors, and outsourcing partners. Our technology law practice includes lawyers with deep experience in transactions, intellectual property, privacy and cybersecurity, regulatory compliance, and dispute resolution. The team also includes engineers, computer coders, and former government officials and cybercrime prosecutors.

As you develop, acquire, integrate, and commercialize technology, we guide you through the complex issues that arise throughout the technology lifecycle, including:

• Innovation, product development, and commercialization
• Technology transactions, strategic partnerships, outsourcing, and M&A
• Software, SaaS, intellectual property, and licensing agreements
• Cloud, AI, digital platforms, and connected technologies
• Data privacy, cybersecurity, FinTech, and regulatory compliance
• Governance, disputes, investigations, and incident response

Our lawyers advise on high-value domestic and cross-border transactions. We have structured, negotiated, and closed billions of dollars in technology transactions worldwide, including M&A deals, strategic partnerships, outsourcing arrangements, SaaS and cloud agreements, technology licensing, and inbound and outbound intellectual property transactions.

As your use of data, AI, and digital platforms expands, we help you navigate the evolving privacy, cybersecurity, and regulatory challenges surrounding the implementation, management, and scaling of digital infrastructure. From AI and generative AI systems to cloud computing, IoT, robotics, and FinTech, we help you address the operational and compliance challenges associated with modern technologies.

When disputes, investigations, or cyber incidents arise, we help mitigate disruption to your business. Our team advises you on complex disputes involving technology transactions, intellectual property, data privacy, cybersecurity, outsourcing relationships, digital platforms, and regulatory compliance.

What would you do if your company faced shareholder class action and derivative lawsuits, a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation or a corporate governance dispute? What if you encountered all three simultaneously? With the complexity of securities and governance law, you need a trusted partner by your side who understands both the legal and business implications of the issues that are raised by shareholders and regulators.

You can count on our dedicated securities & corporate governance litigation team to protect your legal and business interests in high-stakes cases and sensitive governance matters. Whether you face accusations of accounting irregularities, inadequate disclosures, breaches of fiduciary duty, market manipulation, insider trading or valuation irregularities, we are well-versed in litigating a broad range of these substantive issues to help you navigate it all.

With a nationwide network of collaborative practitioners, including a significant presence in New York, Delaware, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington DC, we’re able to support your needs regardless of jurisdiction. The group also includes dedicated corporate governance litigators, including in our Delaware office. Our experienced team includes Board and Fund Counsellors, trial lawyers, corporate governance litigators, former SEC regulators, federal prosecutors, in-house lawyers, and federal and Delaware law clerks. Additionally, our sophisticated counsel helps you manage any governance, disclosure, regulatory and trading issues.

We have an extensive and successful track record in shareholder class action litigation filed pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933 and Securities Exchange Act of 1934. In addition, our team regularly represents a wide range of clients in the investment management industry in connection with a myriad of complex commercial litigation and regulatory matters. Corporate clients include investment banks, accounting firms, hedge funds, funds of funds, and private equity funds, as well as their principals and portfolio companies. We also regularly represent individual issuers, directors and officers, Board Committees.

Because of this collective knowledge and passion for the practice, our team has achieved highly favorable results stemming from litigation, negotiated results, investigations, and enforcement proceedings.