McDermott Will & Schulte, a global law firm

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.

The insurance industry operates under constant scrutiny from regulators, policyholders, investors, and counterparties – and InsurTech innovation is reshaping the market. Our insurance law practice guides you through regulatory complexity, growth opportunities, and technological change to help you stay competitive in a rapidly evolving industry.

With a cross-border team of more than 40 insurance lawyers, we advise insurers, reinsurers, brokers, investors, policyholders, and other insurance market participants. Drawing on experience representing stakeholders throughout the industry, we develop legal strategies informed by market realities, regulatory expectations, and the interconnected relationships that shape the insurance ecosystem.

Our lawyers advise you on sophisticated transactions that support growth and innovation, including mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments, reinsurance arrangements, captive formations, restructurings, and alternative risk structures. We help you structure and execute complex domestic and cross-border transactions while navigating regulatory, operational, and risk transfer considerations that can shape how your business performs.

With deep knowledge of insurance laws and regulations, we guide you through regulatory frameworks involving state insurance departments, government healthcare programs, captive insurance regulations, and Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) compliance. We also advise on privacy and cybersecurity laws, insurance tax matters, and investigations involving state insurance regulators and the US Department of Justice (DOJ).

When you are faced with disputes – including complex coverage disputes, class actions, multistate investigations, and regulatory enforcement actions – our insurance lawyers develop practical legal strategies designed to manage risk, minimize disruption, and protect enterprise value.

We understand the factors that influence how companies throughout the insurance ecosystem manage risk, pursue growth, and remain competitive. Our insurance law practice helps you align your legal strategy with your business strategy. Whether you are pursuing strategic transactions, expanding into new markets, securing regulatory approvals, or defending against disputes, we partner with you to navigate complexity while supporting your business goals.

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.

Our real estate practice helps you navigate complex property markets, using sophisticated strategies that reduce your risk and capitalize on high-value opportunities across the United States, Europe, and around the globe.

Our real estate acquisition and development team supports every phase of your project and protects your capital, from initial structuring to final disposition. We streamline complex real estate acquisition and development deals, accelerating your timeline to profitability and ensuring your assets generate long-term financial value.

Our real estate finance lawyers integrate tax, corporate, and regulatory strategies into your deals. With experience in all segments of mortgage, mezzanine, and construction lending from both the lender and borrower sides, we optimize your real estate financing and investment structures, lowering your cost of capital and securing favorable terms for your portfolio.

If and when real estate litigation threatens your assets, we resolve conflicts efficiently to minimize operational disruption. Our real estate finance litigation strategies protect your bottom line, preserving your asset value and keeping your business objectives on track.

Navigating global markets requires substantial experience in real estate law, and we draw insights from more than $300 billion in recent transactions and signature real estate projects globally. We connect you with market leaders and structure innovative solutions, empowering you to capitalize on emerging opportunities and achieve greater financial outcomes across your portfolio.

For clients ranging from financial institutions and private equity sponsors to developers, our real estate acquisition and development lawyers deliver results. We transform complex cross-border challenges into streamlined, profitable ventures that elevate your market position and secure the highest possible return on your real estate investments.

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.

Your investment platform needs more than execution – it needs structures that hold up under pressure and perform across market cycles. Our investment management lawyers help you design, launch, and manage investment vehicles that align with your goals and stand up to regulatory and investor scrutiny. We shape structures that work in practice, so you are better positioned to move capital with fewer disruptions and greater control over risk.

With more than 150 lawyers around the world, we provide integrated fund, tax, and regulatory advice across the fund life cycle. Our fund formation capabilities span private equity and credit, hedge, venture, infrastructure, and other specialized strategies. Our experience across credit and hybrid strategies positions us to address investor constraints, product design, and cross-border structuring considerations.

We combine fund formation capabilities with sophisticated tax, ERISA, and regulatory advice to structure vehicles for complex investor bases and cross-border operations. When sponsors face regulatory scrutiny, enforcement actions, or disputes, we provide strategic counsel aimed at protecting both the fund structure and the broader management platform.

We also help you navigate US and global regulatory requirements, from Advisers Act compliance to cross-border frameworks, and advise on management company formation, compensation structures, and strategic transactions involving investment managers.

Our investment management lawyers provide integrated legal and business advice at every stage, including:

• Fund formation and structuring
• Capital raising
• Investment transactions, including add-ons and restructurings
• Portfolio management and value creation
• Liquidity solutions, including secondaries and exits

Your ability to raise, deploy, and return capital depends on how your platform is structured. Our investment management lawyers help you integrate strategy, structuring, and compliance across the fund life cycle – so your fund can operate effectively under changing market conditions.