Simpson Thacher has once again been recognized among the leading law firms in the United States in The Legal 500 United States 2025, ranking among the top three firms with the most tier one rankings. The Firm was recognized in 45 practice areas, including a total of nearly 25 rankings in the top tier. Simpson Thacher was highly ranked in the following practice areas:
Antitrust
#2 Cartel
#2 Merger Control
Dispute Resolution
#1 Financial Services Litigation
#1 General Commercial Disputes
#1 M&A Litigation: Defense
#1 Securities Litigation: Defense
Energy
#2 Energy Transactions: Electric Power
#2 Renewable/Alternative Power
Environment
#1 Environment: Transactional
Finance
#1 Capital Markets: Debt Offerings - Advice to Issuers
#1 Capital Markets: Debt Offerings - Advice to Underwriters
#1 Capital Markets: Equity Offerings - Advice to Issuers
#1 Capital Markets: Global Offerings - Advice to Issuers
#1 Capital Markets: Global Offerings - Advice to Underwriters
#1 Capital Markets: High-Yield Debt Offerings - Advice to Issuers
#1 Capital Markets: High-Yield Debt Offerings - Advice to Underwriters
#1 Commercial Lending: Advice to Borrowers
#1 Commercial Lending: Advice to Lenders
#2 Commercial Lending: Advice to Direct Lenders/Private Credit
#2 Capital Markets: Equity Offerings - Advice to Managers
Insurance
#1 Insurance: Advice to Insurers
International Trade and National Security
#1 CFIUS
Investment Fund Formation and Management
#1 Private Equity Funds (including Venture Capital)
#2 Mutual/Registered/Exchange-Traded Funds
Labor and Employment
#1 Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation and Retirement Plans: Transactional
M&A/Corporate and Commercial
#1 M&A: Large Deals ($1bn+)
#1 Private Equity Buyouts: large deals ($500m+)
Real Estate
#1 Real Estate
#2 Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)
Tax
#1 Not-for-Profit (Nonprofit and Tax Exempt Organizations)
#1 U.S. Taxes: Non-Contentious
#1 International Tax
In addition to the practice areas noted above, the Firm was recognized by The Legal 500 United States in the following practice areas:
Antitrust: Civil Litigation/Class Actions: Defense
Dispute Resolution: Appellate: Courts of Appeals
Dispute Resolution: Corporate Investigations and White-Collar Criminal Defense: Advice to Individuals
Dispute Resolution: Corporate Investigations and White-Collar Criminal Defense - Advice to Corporates
Energy: Energy Transactions: Oil and Gas
Finance: Financial Services Regulation: Banking
Finance: Project Finance: Energy and Power
Finance: Restructuring (Including Bankruptcy): Corporate
Finance: Structured Finance: Derivatives and Structured Products
Finance: Structured Finance: Securitization
M&A/Corporate and Commercial: Corporate Governance
Media, Technology and Telecoms: Technology Transactions
Real Estate: Real Estate Finance
The following partners were ranked as “Hall of Fame” Leading Lawyers in their respective fields of practice:
Joshua Ford Bonnie – Finance: Capital Markets: Equity Offerings
Barrie Covit – Investment Fund Formation and Management: Private Equity Funds (including Venture Capital)
Bryce Friedman – Insurance: Insurance: Advice to Insurers
Gregory Grogan – Labor and Employment: EBEC and Retirement Plans: Transactions
Peter Kazanoff – Dispute Resolution: M&A Litigation: Defense
Marni Lerner – M&A/Corporate and Commercial: Private Equity Buyouts: large deals ($500m+)
Lee Meyerson – Finance: Financial Services Regulation and M&A/Corporate and Commercial: M&A: Large Deals ($1bn+)
Lynn Neuner – Dispute Resolution: General Commercial Disputes and Insurance: Insurance: Advice to Insurers
Roxane Reardon – Finance: Capital Markets: Debt
Gregory Ressa – Real Estate: Real Estate
Art Robinson – Finance: Capital Markets: Debt Offerings
Patrick Ryan – Finance: Commercial Lending
David Shevlin – Tax: Not-for-Profit (Nonprofit and Tax Exempt Organizations)
John Terzaken – Antitrust: Cartel
Michael Wolitzer – Investment Fund Formation and Management: Private Equity Funds (including Venture Capital)
Jonathan Youngwood – Dispute Resolution: Financial Services Litigation and Securities Litigation: Defense
The following partners were ranked as Leading Lawyers in their respective fields of practice:
Atif Azher – M&A/Corporate and Commercial: Private Equity Buyouts: large deals ($500m+)
Rajib Chanda – Investment fund formation and management: Mutual/Registered/Exchange-Traded Funds
Brian Chisling – Energy: Energy Transactions: Conventional Power
Toby Chun – Environment: Environment: Transactional
Elizabeth Cooper – M&A/Corporate and Commercial: Private Equity Buyouts: large deals ($500m+)
Andrew Frankel – Insurance: Insurance: Advice to Insurers
Bryce Friedman – Dispute Resolution: General Commercial Disputes and Dispute Resolution: Leading Trial Lawyer
Marcy Geller – Tax: U.S. Taxes: Non-Contentious and International Tax
Jonathan Goldstein – Tax: International Tax
Peter Guryan – Antitrust: Merger Control
Alexandra Kaplan – Finance: Commercial Lending: Advice to Bank Lenders
Jonathan Karen – Investment fund formation and management: Private Equity Funds (including Venture Capital)
Joseph Kaufman – Finance: Capital Markets: Equity Offerings
Alan Klein – M&A/Corporate and Commercial: M&A: Large Deals ($1bn+)
Jeffrey Knox – Antitrust: Cartel and Dispute Resolution: Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense: advice to corporates
Scott Kobak – Real Estate: Real Estate
Lori Lesser – Media, technology and telecoms: Technology Transactions
David Lieberman – Finance: Project Finance and Energy: Energy: Renewable/Alternative Power
Nancy Mehlman – Tax: U.S. Taxes: Non-Contentious and International Tax
Juan Francisco Méndez – Finance: Capital Markets: Global Offerings
Krista Miniutti – Real Estate: Real Estate
Lynn Neuner – Dispute Resolution: General Commercial Disputes, Insurance: Insurance: Advice to Insurers and Leading Trial Lawyer
Sara Razi – Antitrust: Merger Control
Roxane Reardon – Finance: Capital Markets: Debt and Capital Markets: Equity
William Sheehan – Finance: Commercial Lending
Brian Stadler – Real Estate: Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)
Brian Steinhardt – Finance: Commercial Lending
Eric Swedenburg – M&A/Corporate and Commercial: M&A: Large Deals ($1bn+)
David Teh – Finance: Commercial lending: Advice to direct lenders/private credit
Malcolm Tuesley – International Trade: CFIUS
Anthony Vernace – M&A/Corporate and Commercial: Private Equity Buyouts: large deals ($500m+)
Craig Waldman – Dispute Resolution: Financial Services Litigation and Securities Litigation: Defense
Kenneth Wallach – Finance: Capital Markets: High-Yield Offerings
Jonathan Youngwood – Dispute Resolution: General Commercial Disputes and M&A Litigation: Defense and Leading Trial Lawyer
The following partners were ranked as Next Generation Partners in their respective fields of practice:
Naveed Anwar – M&A/Corporate and Commercial: Private Equity Buyouts: large deals ($500m+)
Stephen Blake – Dispute Resolution: M&A Litigation: Defense and Securities Litigation: Defense
Andrew Blau – Labor and Employment: EBEC and Retirement Plans: Transactions
Anne Choe – Investment fund formation and management: Mutual/Registered/Exchange-Traded Funds
Abram Ellis – Antitrust: Civil Litigation/Class Actions: Defense
Jonathan Goldstein – Tax: U.S. Taxes: Non-Contentious
Steven Grigoriou – Investment fund formation and management: Mutual/Registered/Exchange-Traded Funds
Lauren King – Investment fund formation and management: Private Equity Funds (including Venture Capital)
Edgar Lewandowski – Real Estate: Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)
Katy Lukaszewski – Energy: Energy Transactions: Oil & Gas
Linton Mann III – Dispute Resolution: General Commercial Disputes
Jeannine McSweeney – Labor and Employment: EBEC and Retirement Plans: Transactional
Preston Miller – Antitrust: Merger Control
Erland Modesto – Energy: Energy Transactions: Oil and Gas
Joshua Polster – Insurance: Insurance: Advice to Insurers
Andrew Purcell – Tax: U.S. Taxes: Non-Contentious
Whitney Salinas – Real Estate: Real Estate
Mark Skerry – International Trade: CFIUS
Neesa Patel Sood – Investment fund formation and management: Mutual/Registered/Exchange-Traded Funds
Sophie Staples – Tax: International Tax
Craig Waldman – Dispute Resolution: Financial Services Litigation, M&A Litigation: Defense and Securities Litigation: Defense
Aron Zuckerman – Real Estate Finance and Real Estate
The following attorneys were ranked as Rising Stars in their respective fields of practice:
Jennifer Ho – International Trade: CFIUS
Kevin Roe – Tax: Not-for-Profit (Nonprofit and Tax Exempt Organizations)
The Legal 500, a worldwide legal reference guide, ranks law firms and attorneys based on extensive research surveying corporate counsel and law firm clients throughout the country.