• A&O Shearman was formed in 2024 via the merger of Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling. As a result of the merger, A&O Shearman has nearly 4,000 lawyers across the world, making it the third-largest law firm globally.
• Band 1 across a uniquely broad range of specialisms, including a wide variety of finance areas, energy, infrastructure, employment, and pensions.
• Market leaders for banking and capital markets work, including borrower and lender work and securitisation.
• A&O Shearman advises more than a third of NYSE-listed businesses, a fifth of the NASFAQ, and a notable proportion of the London Stock Exchange, the Euronext, Euronext Paris and the Tokyo and Hong Kong Stock Exchanges.
• Worked on some of the most interesting and highest profile matters over the last few years,  with notable clients include Asda, Drake & Scull International, Cinven, BNP Paribas, Citibank, Goodman, Birchwood Real Estate Capital, and Vodafone.
• Unique approach to innovation and investment in legal tech, facilitated through its Fuse incubator. This unique innovation space enables legal-tech start-ups to work alongside lawyers at the firm when designing bespoke technological solutions for lawyers and their clients.
• A&O Shearman is truly international, with 48 offices across 29 countries, including offices in Paris, Washington D.C., and Johannesburg. It has a more comprehensive US presence than other leading UK-headquartered firms, and a more renowned European presence than many US-headquartered competitors.
• Significant commitment to CSR and D&I, with a broad range of support networks (e.g. Race and Ethnicity Network) and pro bono opportunities (e.g. its work with Lawyers for Nature) for employees.

We cover these selling points in more detail below, alongside other relevant firm facts and characteristics.

Practice areas / services

A&O Shearman is a full-service law firm, with a broad range of practice areas including:

• Antitrust
• Consulting
• Corporate
• Corporate and commercial litigation
• Corporate trust and agency
• Data privacy and data protection
• Debt capital markets
• Derivatives
• Disputes
• Equity capital markets
• Environmental
• Financial services advisory and regulatory
• Global employment and compensation
• Global loans and structured debt solutions
• Intellectual property
• International arbitration
• Leveraged finance and high yield
• M&A and joint ventures
• Markets Innovation Group
• Private equity
• Project development and finance
• Public company advisory, corporate governance
• Restructuring insolvency and capital solutions
• Securities litigation and enforcement
• Structured finance securitizations and CLOs
• Tax
• White collar defense and global investigations

Chambers and Partners, a leading analyst of the legal market, has awarded A&O Shearman its highest ‘Band 1’ ranking for the following departments: Banking & Finance: Big-Ticket Borrowers; Banking & Finance: Big-Ticket Lenders; Corporate/M&A: £88 million and above; Employment: Employer; Pensions; Asset Finance: Aviation Finance; Capital Markets: CLOs; Capital Markets: Debt; Capital Markets: Derivatives; Capital Markets: Equity; Capital Markets: Securitisation; Energy & Natural Resources: Oil & Gas; Energy & Natural Resources: Power; Energy & Natural Resources: Renewables & Alternative Energy; Financial Services: Contentious Regulatory (Corporates); Financial Services: Non-contentious regulatory; Financial Services: Payments Law; Infrastructure; Investment funds: investor representation; Projects; Real Estate Finance. See here for more information.

Key sectors / industries

A&O Shearman services a broad range of industries, with some of its highest-value clients operating in the following sectors:

• Financial institutions
• Private Capital
• Consumer and Retail
• Technology

In addition, A&O Shearman services the following industries: energy, life sciences and healthcare, mining and metals, infrastructure and transport, industrials and manufacturing, communications, and media and entertainment.

Work

The firm consistently advises on some of the most high-profile transactions and cases. Some notable examples include:

• Asda: A&O Shearman advised a consortium of fourteen banks on Asda’s £3.2 billion high-yield bond and loan refinancing. The refinancing was the biggest Sterling high-yield bond as of May 2024.
• Drake & Scull: The firm advised Drake & Scull International on its AED 4 billion debt restructuring, which was the first major restructuring to occur under the UAE’s new bankruptcy law. The restructuring converted some of the company’s debt into shares through a Sharia-compliant bond, known as Sukuk.
• Cinven: A&O Shearman advised this leading private equity firm on its acquisition of a 50% interest in Policy Expert from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). Policy Expert has been one of the UK’s fastest growing insurance businesses since it was founded in 2011.

Offices / global footprint / expansion

Headquarters: London, One Bishops Square (there are plans to relocate to a new campus at 2 Broadgate by early 2027)

Offices: A&O Shearman has 48 offices across 29 countries, including offices in Paris, Washington D.C., and Johannesburg.

Insights, internships and other opportunities

A&O Shearman offers a variety of opportunities for students wishing to explore law as a future career. These include the firm’s first-year programme aimed at first-year students to provide a foundation for a (potential) future vacation scheme; a summer and winter vacation scheme, in which candidates get the opportunity to spend two to three weeks in the firm’s London office; and the training contract itself, which includes training for the SQE.

Other alternative paths offered by the firm include the A&O Shearman Solicitor Apprenticeship Programme; the Lawtech & Operations Graduate Programme, which focuses on the development and implementation of legal tech; and the firm’s virtual work experience programme on The Forage, which is available to all and accessible at any time (see here).

Training contract

A&O Shearman offers a four-seat training contract, with each seat lasting six months. The firm’s core areas of expertise are Finance, Corporate, Disputes and ENRI (Energy, Natural Resources and Infrastructure). Trainees gain contentious experience, either by spending a seat in the Litigation department or by completing a litigation course (currently delivered by Nottingham Law School). The training offered ranges from regular departmental updates and training sessions, to client seminars delivered by A&O Shearman partners. Further seminars and training opportunities cover topics such as wellness, corporate strategy, and professional skill development.

Secondments

Trainees can apply for a 6-month secondment during their training contracts. International secondments are offered in up to 13 of the firm’s offices, including Dubai, New York and Singapore. Client secondments are also available, enabling trainees to better understand how the firm’s clients’ businesses run.

A&O Shearman is involved in a number of pro bono projects, supporting a variety of causes, from the protection of fundamental rights and social finance solutions, to supporting forcibly displaced people, and projects to protect the natural environment. Recent projects include:

• Human Rights at Sea: the firm helped create a platform to enable victims of human rights abuse at sea to access an alternative route to justice via international arbitration.
• School exclusions: A&O Shearman partnered with Coram Children’s Legal Centre on a legal clinic to help families challenge permanent school exclusion.
• Resettlement and family reunification: A&O Shearman lawyers in Australia, Hong Kong, Poland, Germany, Spain, France, the UK and the US have arranged visas and other resettlement options that create legal pathways to safety for individuals and families fleeing conflict and persecution in their home countries.
• Earth Law Center and Lawyers for Nature: the firm has partnered with these two organisations to craft innovative methods to advance the interests of the natural environment in corporate boardrooms.

Diversity and inclusion

A&O Shearman is committed to championing diversity, building on the legacies of A&O and Shearman & Sterling. The firm has a variety of initiatives designed to foster and support diversity and inclusion across its global network. To give a few examples:

• Race and Ethnicity Network: this network is committed to celebrating diversity at A&O Shearman whilst also raising awareness and increasing understanding of the challenges and barriers faced by those from diverse communities.
• Gender Equality Network: this network is committed to embedding gender equality within the firm and achieving gender parity at all levels of seniority for lawyers and business teams.
• LGBTQ+ Network: this network hosts various events throughout the year for members and allies. It also engages in pro bono activities.