Highlights Mayer Brown LLP

A leading firm

Mayer Brown is among the world's leading law firms in both size and sophistication of work. With nearly 1,650 legal professionals in 22 offices in eight time zones, the firm advises many of the world's largest commercial and financial institutions, national governments and multi-lateral organizations.

With 127 years of history, Mayer Brown is one of the oldest and largest firms in the world. Mayer Brown established Paris operations in January 2001 when they merged with the highly regarded French law firm, Lambert & Lee In 2002, Mayer, Brown & Platt merged with London-based Rowe & Maw. (Mayer Brown was founded in 1881, while Rowe & Maw was founded in 1895.) The firm's Asia presence was enhanced in 2008 when Mayer Brown combined with JSM (formerly Johnson Stokes & Master), one of the largest and oldest Asia law firms. In December 2009 the firm formed an association with Tauil & Chequer Advogados, one of the largerst and fastes growing law firms in Brazil.

The firm also has alliances with Jauregui, Navarrete y Nader S.C., one of Mexico City's most respected law firms; with Tonucci & Partners, a leading Italian law firm; and with Ramon & Cajal, a large Spanish firm.

A history of growth

Mayer Brown has become one of the largest firms in the country. Early Mayer Brown clients included Sears Roebuck and Continental Bank, which selected Mayer Brown when it incorporated. The firm began to branch out in the 1970s, opening offices in Washington, DC, New York, and London. In 2001, the firm opened offices in Paris and Frankfurt. Mayer Brown became a pioneer of sorts in 1991 when Debora de Hoyos was elected managing partner. De Hoyos, a Harvard law grad, was one of the first women selected to lead a top law firm. Other top partners include former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Mickey Kantor and former Illinois Attorney General Ty Fahner Eight former Supreme Court clerks now work for Mayer Brown as do at least six former members of the U.S. Solicitor General's office.

With 460 lawyers, the Chicago office is well known for its government, tax, and mergers and acquisitions work. The New York office is notable for its practices in corporate, more specifically securities law, finance, structured finance, real estate, tax, litigation, banking and bankruptcy. The London office works on finance and mergers and acquisitions. The Mayer Brown Charlotte office dates from 1998, when Blanchfield Cordle & Moore, one of the region's prominent tax and litigation boutiques, merged with Mayer Brown. The office now numbers 40 attorneys concentrating on the areas of finance, corporate and securities, tax controversy and transactions, real estate, and litigation, serving the Carolinas and the Southeast United States. The office's clients include two of the nation's largest financial institutions, a number of other leading corporations, both publicly traded and privately held, partnerships, hedge funds and other investment vehicles, and high net-worth individuals. Beyond their regional strength, they offer access to the other practice areas and global expertise.

A reputation for mergers

Mayer Brown's corporate practice is well-respected and the firm has advised on several high-profile mergers. For example, the firm advised CBOT Holding, Inc., parent company of the Chicago Board of Trade, in connection with its merger with CME Holding, Inc. The value of the transaction was approximately $12 billion. They also represented Nestle S.A. in the acquisition of the global Gerber Baby Products and Gerber Life insurance business from Novartis A.G. for an aggregate cash purchase price of $5.5 billion; and assisted in the acquisition by ProLogis, the world's largest owner, manager and developer of distribution facilities, of all of the units of Macquarie ProLogis Trust for a total consideration in excess of $2 billion.

Supreme Court regulars

Mayer Brown’s more than 60 appellate lawyers have argued over 200 cases before the United States Supreme Court, representing either parties or amici in approximately 15 cases each Term for the past several years, and arguing an average of four per Term. In addition, lawyers in the practice have argued over 500 cases in other appellate courts throughout the nation, including in every federal court of appeals and in the appellate or supreme courts of a majority of the states.

Chambers USA and Legal 500 US have again recognized our Supreme Court & Appellate group's preeminence in the field: for the third year in a row, both Chambers USA and Legal 500 US rank us as a top tier practice, with Chambers noting that our "heavyweight appellate team...is widely regarded as one of the best in the USA." The publications' comments illustrate Mayer Brown's dominance in the field of appellate advocacy.

Also, for the third year in a row, the National Law Journal named Mayer Brown to its "Appellate Hot List," recognizing firms that practice "exemplary, cutting-edge appellate advocacy.".

Pro Bono

Mayer Brown's work isn't all so profitable - the firm has done substantial pro bono work as well, and contributes on average over $1 million per year to legal services organizations. Pro bono efforts of note include a newly-developed project with an India-based microfinance organization, an affordable housing project with the Corporation for Supportive Housing, extensive involvement in the Guantanamo detainee litigation, and continued work in the death penalty area. The firm also has a significant pro bono appellate and Supreme Court practice, and since 1999 has accepted over eighty-nine appointed cases from the Seventh Circuit and argued 4 pro bono cases in front of the Supreme Court. In order to keep up and organize its efforts, the firm hired Marc Kadish as Director of Pro Bono Activities and Litigation training in 1999, and implemented a pro bono strategic plan in March 2005. The plan is designed to provide even higher quality pro bono opportunities to the firm's lawyers, achieve results commensurate with the quality and challenges of the firm's client work, and attain significant results for the public good. To that end, Mayer Brown created the position of firmwide Pro Bono Program Manager to help implement the strategic plan and coordinate pro bono activities generally. That position was filled by Marcia Maack, an attorney in the firm's Washington, D.C. office. Mayer Brown also hosts an internal pro bono opportunities website, which allows its lawyers to search for available pro bono opportunities, as well as access training materials and information on pro bono training programs. In addition to the internal pro bono website, Mayer Brown also disseminates information regarding its pro bono program through its external pro bono website, www.mayerbrown.com/probono, and its magazine, Pro Bono Update.

More than a law firm

To augment its regular web site, Mayer Brown sponsors two other sites to provide detailed information on specific practice groups. One is appellate.net, a one-stop shop for all the goings-on in the firm's Supreme Court and appellate group. In addition to a description of the practice and its attorneys, the site features Supreme Court docket reports, a selection of firm-penned articles, and a library of related legal briefs. Billed as "your free source for news and information about structured finance," another of the firm's sites, securitization.net, offers similar documents, along with a bulletin board, useful structured finance-oriented links, and other resources.

A friendly culture

Firm insiders say that Mayer Brown is friendly. Contacts say associates have a lot of autonomy. "The firm is very laid-back. People are pretty friendly and helpful. You are free to do the kind of work you want."