Editing Sidley Austin

{{Infobox Law Firm
| logo                      = [[Image:Sidley Austin_logo.jpg|200px]]
| headquarters              = Houston; TX
| num_offices               = 20 Worldwide <ref name=autogenerated2>{{cite web
| offices                   = 
| num_attorneys             = 1,905
| num_employees             = about 3,440 (Dec 2012)
| practice_areas            = General practice
| established               = 
| key_people                = 
| revenue                   = USD
| profit_per_equity_partner = 
| billable_hours            = 
| website                   = 
| nalp_profile              = 
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{{Law Firm Pay Scale
| year            = 2017
| salary_1st_year = 180
| bonus_1st_year  = 
| salary_2nd_year = 190
| bonus_2nd_year  = 
| salary_3rd_year = 210
| bonus_3rd_year  = 
| salary_4th_year = 235
| bonus_4th_year  = 
| salary_5th_year = 260
| bonus_5th_year  = 
| salary_6th_year = 280
| bonus_6th_year  = 
| salary_7th_year = 300
| bonus_7th_year  = 
| salary_8th_year = 315
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}}'''Sidley Austin LLP''', formerly known as '''Sidley Austin Brown & Wood LLP''', is the sixth-largest U.S.-based corporate [[law firm]] with 1,900 [[lawyer]]s<ref name="bestlawfirms.usnews.com" /> and annual revenues of more than one billion dollars. The firm is one of the highest paying companies in the U.S.,<ref>https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2015/04/07/24-7-wall-st-americas-highest-paying-companies/70328230/</ref> and it has offices in 20 cities worldwide, with the most recent addition of Munich in 2016. It is a full-service law firm, with broad experience in transaction and [[litigation]] matters. Its original predecessor firm was founded in 1866 and had former first lady [[Mary Todd Lincoln]], then the widow of President [[Abraham Lincoln]], among its earliest clients.  The firm was formed as the result of the merger of two firms: the Chicago-based '''Sidley & Austin''', founded in 1866, and the New York-based [[Brown & Wood]], founded in 1914.<ref>{{cite news|title=Sidley & Austin Plans To Merge With Wall Street Power|url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2001-02-22/business/0102220061_1_sidley-austin-brown-wood-client-base|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=February 22, 2001}}</ref> The merger was completed in May 2001. The firm's headquarters is at [[One South Dearborn]] in [[Chicago]]'s [[Chicago Loop|Loop]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sidley.com/chicago/ |title=Chicago|publisher=Sidley Austin |accessdate=17 December 2009}}</ref>

In each year since the survey's inception, Sidley has received more First-Tier National Rankings than any other U.S. law firm in the Best Law Firms Survey by ''[[U.S. News & World Report]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sidley.com/For-the-Fourth-Consecutive-Year-Sidley-Austin-LLP-is-Recognized-With-the-Most-First-Tier-National-Rankings-in-the-2014-US-News--Best-Lawyers-Best-Law-Firms-Survey-11-01-2013/|title=For the Fourth Consecutive Year Sidley is Recognized With the Most First-Tier National Rankings in the 2014 U.S. News – Best Lawyers® "Best Law Firms" Survey - 11 - 2013 |publisher=sidley.com}}</ref> The 2015 ''U.S. News'' Survey also named Sidley as the "Law Firm of the Year" in International Trade and Finance Law as well as Litigation – Securities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bestlawfirms.usnews.com/lfoty.aspx|title="Law Firm of the Year" Awards|website=U.S. News & World Report |accessdate=18 September 2015}}</ref> As of 2014, it was the 13th largest law firm in the world (and 8th in the US) by revenue.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.law360.com/articles/631981/law360-reveals-400-largest-us-firms|title=Law360 Reveals 400 Largest US Firms|first=Jake |last=Simpson |location=New York |date=22 March 2015|publisher=Law360.com|accessdate=18 September 2015}}</ref>

==History==

===Origins in Chicago===
The firm that was to become Sidley Austin was formed in Chicago in 1866 by Norman Williams and John Leverett Thompson as the partnership of Williams & Thompson. One of the nascent firm's first clients was the [[Pullman Company]], the manufacturer of specialty sleeping railway cars. Other early clients included [[Western Union]] Telegraph Company, which moved its Midwest headquarters from Cleveland to Chicago in 1869. After the [[Great Chicago Fire]] of 1871, the firm represented numerous insurance companies including [[AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company|Equitable Life Assurance Society]].  In 1892, William Pratt Sidley joined the firm after having earned an [[LLB]] from Union College of Law and a [[Master of Arts|M.A.]] from [[Harvard Law School]]. By 1913, the firm's name was changed to Holt, Cutting & Sidley, although Sidley would be the guiding personality for the Chicago firm through the 20th century. Three years later—the firm then fifty years old—had four partners, four clerks (associates), and ten staff employees with gross income of around $100,000 (roughly $1.9 million in 2008 dollars).

Buffeted by the [[Great Depression]], the firm experienced a dramatic fall in revenues until the [[New Deal]] in the 1930s reinvigorated the capital markets. The firm represented [[Halsey, Stuart & Co.]], a Chicago-based [[underwriter]] in one of the first transactions under the [[Securities Act of 1933]]. In 1944, the name was changed to Sidley, Austin, Burgess & Harper and shortened to Sidley & Austin in 1967.

===Towards a national firm===
After the [[Second World War]], Sidley & Austin began expanding beyond its Chicago roots as many of its clients entered new markets. In 1963, its [[Washington, D.C.]] branch was established which would soon become an important player in that city's legal market through its representation of the [[American Medical Association]], [[American Bar Association]] and the International Minerals & Chemical Corporation. The firm developed strengths in antitrust and the representation of clients in front of the [[Federal Trade Commission]].

Sidley & Austin was among several law firms caught up in the [[Savings & Loan Crisis]] and paid $7.5 million to settle [[legal malpractice]] claims stemming from its representation of the [[Lincoln Savings and Loan Association]]. Such legal work was profiled in the book by [[Ralph Nader]] and Wesley J. Smith, ''No Contest: Corporate Lawyers and the Perversion of Justice in America''.

===Expansion and consolidation===
Sidley & Austin expanded tremendously in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1972, the firm merged with the 50 lawyers of Chicago firm Leibman, Williams, Bennett, Baird & Minow. Offices were established in London, Los Angeles, Singapore and New York in short order.

In 2001, the firm merged with [[Brown & Wood]], a New York-based law firm established in 1914 with 400 attorneys additional domestic offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Los Angeles and overseas branches in London, Beijing and Hong Kong (where it practiced English law in addition to U.S. law). Brown & Wood was known for its [[securities]], [[structured finance]] and [[securitization]] practices.  The firm's well-regarded publication, ''Accessing the U.S. Capital Markets: An Introduction to United States Securities Law'', continues to be updated annually today.  Brown & Wood had offices in the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]]. The firm was known as Sidley Austin Brown & Wood until the name was rebranded as Sidley Austin in 2006.

===Appellate Practice Group===
In 1985, [[U.S. Solicitor General]] [[Rex E. Lee]] founded Sidley Austin's Appellate Practice Group to represent clients in all appellate courts, including the United States Supreme Court, the federal courts of appeals, and state appellate and supreme courts. Following Lee's death, the group was led by Carter Phillips, who has argued more cases before the Supreme Court than any lawyer in private practice<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sidley.com/services/appellate|title=Supreme Court and Appellate Practice|work=Sidley Austin}}</ref> and who now chairs the firm's executive committee.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.law.com/jsp/ca/PubArticleCA.jsp?id=1202598933636&Carter_Phillips_Named_Sole_Chair_of_Sidleys_Executive_Committee|title=Carter Phillips Named Sole Chair of Sidley's Executive Committee|author=Matthew Huisman|work=The Recorder}}</ref> The current co-chairs of the practice group are former Acting Attorney General [[Peter Keisler]] and former Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General Joseph Guerra.

The Appellate Group has argued several landmark cases before the Supreme Court including ''[[U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton]]'' (constitutionality of state-imposed term limits on members of Congress), ''[[Missouri v. Jenkins]]'' (proper role of federal courts in imposing desegregation remedies), and ''[[United States v. Lopez]]'' (Commerce Clause challenge to a federal statute prohibiting the possession of firearms within 1,000 feet of a school).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oyez.org/benefactors/sidley_austin|title=Sidley Austin|publisher=oyez.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sidley.com/appellate/|title=Supreme Court and Appellate|publisher=sidley.com}}</ref> Directly or indirectly, Sidley Austin plays a role in 40 percent of the cases the Supreme Court hears every term. Over the last 30 years, its lawyers have argued 115 high court cases.<ref>[http://www.sidley.com/en/services/appellate Supreme Court and Appellate | Practice Areas | Services | Sidley Austin LLP<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

On March 19, 2015 the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit|U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit]] ruled that a client of Sidley Austin, [[AT&T Inc.]], filed its appeal too late in a patent infringement case, which cost AT&T its right to appeal a $40 million adverse judgment. The Federal Circuit held that a team of lawyers from the firm failed to file a notice of appeal within the requisite thirty days after a federal district court denied several post-trial motions. The court affirmed the district court's ruling that it was "troublesome" that none of the eighteen lawyers and assistants who received the electronic notices "bothered to read the orders issued by the court."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-court-rules-ts-lawyers-211348620.html| title=U.S. court rules AT&T's lawyers too late to appeal patent loss|date=March 19, 2015|accessdate=March 20, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/images/stories/opinions-orders/14-1302.Opinion.3-17-2015.1.PDF|title=Two Way Media LLC v. ATT Inc.|date=March 17, 2015|accessdate=March 28, 2015}}</ref>

==Rankings and recognition==
The firm frequently appears at the top of various industry rankings. In 2015, the BTI Consulting Group named Sidley to its BTI Client Service A-Team—one of only two law firms to rank in BTI's Client Service Top 10 for fourteen consecutive years.<ref>[http://www.bticlientserviceateam.com/client-service-30/ Client Service 30 - A-Team — BTI Consulting Group<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The firm also showed up in 14 categories on The American Lawyer's Corporate Scorecard, landing in the No. 1 spot for its roles as issuer's counsel in equities offered by U.S. corporations, issuers' and underwriters' counsel for investment grade debt, and underwriters' counsel for [[REIT]] debt. Other honors include the 2005 [[Catalyst (nonprofit organization)|Catalyst]] Award, conferred in recognition of the firm's impressive initiatives to retain and promote women attorneys, and its second consecutive year as No. 1 in the rankings by [[Thomson Financial]] for top issuer counsel and manager counsel for U.S. debt and equity-related activity.{{cn|date=September 2015}}

The firm is particularly known for its securities practice<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=http://www.chambersandpartners.com/Global/Firms/3692-34953|title=Sidley Austin LLP|publisher=chambersandpartners.com}}</ref> and its international trade practice,<ref name="auto"/> both of which have consistently ranked first in the respective specialty rankings of Chambers and Partners. The trade group currently represents the [[Airbus]]/European Communities side in the ongoing [[WTO]] dispute with [[Boeing]]/US. The group was named the 2006 Global WTO Law Firm of the Year<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=184639|title=Sidley Austin LLP's International Trade and Dispute Resolution Group Honored by Chambers... |location=London|publisher=Sidley Austin LLP|date=17 November 2006|website=prnewswire.co.uk}}</ref> and ranks first, before [[Wilmer Hale]] and [[Steptoe & Johnson]], in the European Legal 500 ranking.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legal500.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1136&l5country_code=usv3_ie&l5directory=us500&Itemid=637|title=The Legal 500|work=legal500.com}}</ref> Its appellate and [[US Supreme Court]] practice is also particularly well-known and has been featured in ''[[USA Today]]'', ''[[BusinessWeek]]'', the ''[[American Lawyer]]'', the ''[[Legal Times]]'', and the ''[[National Law Journal]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sidley.com/practice/group.asp?groupid=1100 |publisher=Sidley Austin LLP |title=Our Practice |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050212183309/http://www.sidley.com/practice/group.asp?groupid=1100|archivedate=12 February 2005|accessdate=18 September 2015}}</ref>

In 2008 Sidley Austin was awarded Deal of the Year - Debt Market Deal of the Year at the 2008 ALB Hong Kong Law Awards.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.legalbusinessonline.com.au|title=Asian Legal Business|publisher=legalbusinessonline.com.au}}</ref> In 2015 Sidley Austin was named Finance Team of the Year at the Lawyer Awards in London.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thelawyerawards.com/results|title=2015 Results|website=TheLawyerAwards.com|publisher=Centaur Media plc|accessdate=18 September 2015}}</ref>

==Sidley Austin during the September 11 attacks==
The [[terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001]] personally affected the employees of Sidley Austin. Prior to the merger creating Sidley Austin Brown & Wood, which took place just four months before the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, the head office of Brown & Wood was in the World Trade Center, while Sidley & Austin was located in offices on Third Avenue. Out of 600 employees who worked in the World Trade Center at the time of the attacks, one perished, a [[telephone switchboard|switchboard]] operator, Rosemary Smith.<ref name=autogenerated1>[https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F2061EFE3B550C768CDDAE0894DA404482 In Re 9/11: Law Firm Moves On, Still Recovering]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.silive.com/september-11/index.ssf/2010/09/rosemary_smith_61_planned_to_o.html |title=Special Reports - SILive.com.com|work=silive.com}}</ref>

Sidley Austin reopened its New York office on Monday, September 17, 2001 in the old Sidley & Austin office on Third Avenue which it had planned on closing on September 16. Instead, it leased four additional floors in that location, in a deal completed less than three hours after the collapse of the World Trade Center. Sidley Austin later opened its permanent new office in the [[Equitable Center]] building on Seventh Avenue in July 2002.<ref name=autogenerated1 />

==Name changes==
In the 1920s, the firm was named Cutting, Moore & Sidley.  Following a number of changes, it was known as Sidley & Austin for many years until it merged with the New York capital markets firm [[Brown & Wood]] in the 1990s.  Its name was changed to Sidley Austin LLP on January 1, 2006.

==Political contributions==
According to the [[Center for Responsive Politics]], Sidley Austin was one of the top law firms contributing to federal candidates during the 2012 election cycle, donating $1.45 million, 66% to Democrats (however, one of its former summer associates was running on the Democratic ticket).<ref name=topcontributors>{{cite web|title=Lawyers & Lobbyists: Top Contributors to Federal Candidates, Parties, and Outside Groups|url=http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/contrib.php?ind=K&Bkdn=DemRep&cycle=2012|website=OpenSecrets.org|publisher=Center for Responsive Politics}}</ref> By comparison, during that same period [[Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld]] donated $2.56 million, 66% to Democrats,<ref name=topcontributors/> while oil conglomerate [[ExxonMobil]] donated $2.66 million, 88% to Republicans.<ref>{{cite web|title=Energy/Natural Resources: Top Contributors to Federal Candidates, Parties, and Outside Groups|url=http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/contrib.php?ind=E&Bkdn=DemRep&cycle=2012|website=OpenSecrets.org|publisher=Center for Responsive Politics|accessdate=9 June 2016}}</ref> Since 1990, Sidley Austin has contributed $6.88 million to federal campaigns.<ref>{{cite web|title=Organizations: Sidley Austin|url=http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000022249&cycle=A|website=OpenSecrets.org|publisher=Center for Responsive Politics|accessdate=9 June 2016}}</ref>

==Notable alumni==
* [[James L. Connaughton]], chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) under President [[George W. Bush]], was a partner in Sidley Austin's Environmental Practice Group, covering a wide range of environmental policy issues. Executive at [[Constellation Energy Group]].
* [[Christopher DeMuth]], former president of the conservative/libertarian [[American Enterprise Institute]], worked at the firm in the 1970s.
* [[Bernardine Dohrn]], the former [[Weatherman (organization)|Weatherman]] leader
* [[Alan Gura]], conservative litigator, represented [[Dick Heller]] in the [[United States Supreme Court]] in [[District of Columbia v. Heller]].
* [[Faith Jenkins]], TV Judge, host of true crime show, legal commentator for MSNBC and formerly [[Fox News Channel]]
* [[Joseph D. Kearney]], Dean of [[Marquette University Law School]]
* [[Mike Lee (U.S. politician)|Mike Lee]], son of [[Rex E. Lee]] and current US Senator from Utah (Republican)
* [[Rex E. Lee]], former [[Solicitor General of the United States]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://magazine.byu.edu/?act=view&a=441|title=Supreme Court Justices Pay Tribute to the Late Rex E. Lee|work=byu.edu}}</ref>
* [[Chris Lu]], [[United States Deputy Secretary of Labor]] and assistant to the [[President of the United States]].
* [[Newton Minow]], the chairman of the [[Federal Communications Commission]] under former US President [[John F. Kennedy]], was a partner in the Chicago office (1965–91) and continues to serve as senior counsel to the firm.
* [[President of the United States|President]] [[Barack Obama]] was a [[summer associate]] in the Chicago office, but never joined the firm as a full-time associate. He met his future wife, [[Michelle Obama]] (who was an associate at Sidley Austin at the time), during his time at the firm.<ref>{{cite news| url= http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2005/12/07/news/14049.shtml |title= Obama '85 masters balancing act| work=[[The Daily Princetonian]]| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20110708222043/http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2005/12/07/14049/|deadurl= yes| archivedate= 8 July 2011| accessdate= 18 September 2015| quote= [Michelle] was assigned to mentor Barack, who was a summer intern at Sidley & Austin, and the two began dating soon after in 1991.}}</ref>
* [[David Otunga]], contestant on ''[[I Love New York 2]]'' and presently a [[Professional Wrestling|professional wrestler]] working with [[World Wrestling Entertainment]].<ref name="Pang">{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-live-0323-david-otunga-profile-20110322,0,4088452.story?page=1 |title=David the Goliath|date=2011-03-22|last=Pang|first=David|accessdate=2011-03-23|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|page=1}}</ref>
* [[David S. Tatel]], a judge on the [[United States Court of Appeals]] for the District of Columbia Circuit, began his legal career at Sidley Austin.
* [[John D. Zeglis]], the former [[Chief Executive Officer]] of [[AT&T Wireless]], was an associate (1973–1978) and partner (1978–1984) in the Chicago office, where he spent a significant amount of time helping AT&T navigate through the [[Federal Communications Commission]]'s orders to break up the company, before leaving to join AT&T as a corporate vice president.

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* [http://www.sidley.com Official website]
* {{OpenCorp|Sidley Austin}}
* [http://www.martindale.com/Sidley-Austin-LLP/936363-law-firm-office.htm See this firm's profile on Martindale.com]

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[[Category:Law firms established in 1866]]
[[Category:Law firms based in Chicago]]
[[Category:Foreign law firms with offices in Hong Kong]]
[[Category:Foreign law firms with offices in Japan]]
[[Category:Harvard Law School alumni]]
[[Category:1866 establishments in Illinois]]