Derek Zaba

Diligent Market Intelligence (DMI), which profiles prolific law firms in the activism space, has awarded Sidley first place in its Advisor Awards for Total Issuer Representations in 2024. DMI credited Sidley with a record number of 83 corporate defense campaigns, the highest number in the league table’s history and twice as many as the second-placed law firm. A link to the full league tables is here. The DMI award follows Sidley’s recently announced No. 1 rankings in Bloomberg’s Global Activism League Tables and FactSet’s U.S. Activism and Defense League Tables for 2024. Moreover, Chambers USA has ranked Sidley in Band 1 for Corporate/M&A: Takeover Defense, stating that “Sidley Austin is the best in the business at activism defense work.” Similarly, Legal 500 has ranked Sidley in Tier 1 for Shareholder Activism – Advice to Boards, calling Sidley’s shareholder activism co-chairs Kai Liekefett and Derek Zaba “two of the best lawyers in America.” In the past five years, Sidley has represented companies in approximately 150 proxy contests, several hundred activist campaigns, and dozens of settlements — more than any other legal defense practice in the world.~~Diligent Market Intelligence (DMI), which profiles prolific law firms in the activism space, has awarded Sidley first place in its Advisor Awards for Total Issuer Representations in 2024. DMI credited Sidley with a record number of 83 corporate defense campaigns, the highest number in the league table’s history and twice as many as the second-placed law firm. A link to the full league tables is here. The DMI award follows Sidley’s recently announced No. 1 rankings in Bloomberg’s Global Activism League Tables and FactSet’s U.S. Activism and Defense League Tables for 2024. Moreover, Chambers USA has ranked Sidley in Band 1 for Corporate/M&A: Takeover Defense, stating that “Sidley Austin is the best in the business at activism defense work.” Similarly, Legal 500 has ranked Sidley in Tier 1 for Shareholder Activism – Advice to Boards, calling Sidley’s shareholder activism co-chairs Kai Liekefett and Derek Zaba “two of the best lawyers in America.” In the past five years, Sidley has represented companies in approximately 150 proxy contests, several hundred activist campaigns, and dozens of settlements — more than any other legal defense practice in the world.

Jan 15

2 min

Sidley represented The Brink’s Company (NYSE: BCO) in its acquisition of NCR Atleos Corporation (NYSE: NATL) in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately US$6.6 billion. The deal combines two leading financial technology infrastructure providers, bringing together Brink’s global cash management expertise and route-based infrastructure with NCR Atleos’ end-to-end ATM management and services expertise, ATM network, and fast-growing ATM-as-a-Service outsourcing solutions. Sidley served as both transaction and financing counsel to Brink’s in the transaction. The transaction has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to customary closing conditions. The Sidley team was led by David Grubman, Adam Cromie, George Hunter, and Dustin Page (M&A), and included Lisa Holzman, Evan Kowalski, Jordan Lemoine, and David Hoff (M&A); Angela Fontana, Tracey Nicastro, Caroline Roberts, and Alexander Waddell (Global Finance); Sonia Gupta Barros, Alexander Csordas, Samir Gandhi, and Kayla West (Capital Markets); Suresh Advani, Christian Brause, Eric Grosshandler, and Patrick Gray (Tax); Gregory Marrs, Elizabeth Burns, and Steven Szymanski (Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation); Corey Roush, Murray Reeve, and Anna Kubinska (Antitrust and Competition); Sven De Knop, Alessandra Moroni, James Daher, and Laura Verbeken (Global Arbitration, Trade and Advocacy); Stanley Boris and Matthew Katz (Banking, Payments and Fintech); Colleen Brown and Stephanie Lim (Privacy and Cybersecurity); Heather Palmer (Environmental, Health, and Safety); Natalie Piazza, Vishnu Tirumala, Melissa Gerdts, Amber Otto, Chetan Reddy, and Shannon McDonald (Commercial Litigation and Disputes); and Derek Zaba (Shareholder Activism & Corporate Defense).

Feb 26

1 min

Sidley has been ranked No. 1 for company-side legal advisers in Bloomberg’s Global Activism League Tables for H1 2025 — both in North America and globally. Bloomberg has ranked Sidley the No. 1 legal adviser for activism defense in North America for more than five years. For H1 2025, Bloomberg ranked Sidley No. 1 for the total number of defended companies (32). Sidley was ranked No. 1 across the market capitalization spectrum – both for larger companies (market cap above US$1 billion) and for smaller companies (market cap below US$1 billion). Bloomberg also ranked Sidley the No. 1 legal adviser for activism defense in the consumer discretionary and financial industries. A link to the full league tables is here. The Bloomberg rankings follow Sidley’s Band 1 ranking in Chambers USA in Corporate/M&A: Takeover Defense, which stated that “Sidley Austin is the best in the business at activism defense work.” Similarly, Legal 500 has ranked Sidley in Tier 1 for Shareholder Activism — Advice to Boards, calling Sidley’s Shareholder Activism co-chairs Kai Liekefett and Derek Zaba “two of the best lawyers in America.” Sidley has also been ranked No. 1 in the shareholder activism defense league tables by FactSet, Diligent, and LSEG for company-side engagements in the past three years. In the past five years, Sidley has represented companies in approximately 150 proxy contests, several hundred activist campaigns, and dozens of settlements — more than any other legal defense practice in the world.~~Sidley has been ranked No. 1 for company-side legal advisers in Bloomberg’s Global Activism League Tables for H1 2025 — both in North America and globally. Bloomberg has ranked Sidley the No. 1 legal adviser for activism defense in North America for more than five years. For H1 2025, Bloomberg ranked Sidley No. 1 for the total number of defended companies (32). Sidley was ranked No. 1 across the market capitalization spectrum – both for larger companies (market cap above US$1 billion) and for smaller companies (market cap below US$1 billion). Bloomberg also ranked Sidley the No. 1 legal adviser for activism defense in the consumer discretionary and financial industries. A link to the full league tables is here. The Bloomberg rankings follow Sidley’s Band 1 ranking in Chambers USA in Corporate/M&A: Takeover Defense, which stated that “Sidley Austin is the best in the business at activism defense work.” Similarly, Legal 500 has ranked Sidley in Tier 1 for Shareholder Activism — Advice to Boards, calling Sidley’s Shareholder Activism co-chairs Kai Liekefett and Derek Zaba “two of the best lawyers in America.” Sidley has also been ranked No. 1 in the shareholder activism defense league tables by FactSet, Diligent, and LSEG for company-side engagements in the past three years. In the past five years, Sidley has represented companies in approximately 150 proxy contests, several hundred activist campaigns, and dozens of settlements — more than any other legal defense practice in the world.

Jul 1

2 min

FactSet ranked Sidley as the No. 1 legal adviser for company defense in its U.S. activism and defense league tables for the first half of 2025. FactSet credited Sidley with 24 campaigns. Sidley also ranked as the No. 1 company-side legal adviser in The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) shareholder activism league tables for the first half of 2025. LSEG credited Sidley with 33 campaigns. The FactSet and LSEG rankings follow Sidley’s No. 1 ranking by Bloomberg in the first half of 2025, along with Sidley’s Band 1 ranking in Chambers USA in Corporate/M&A: Takeover Defense, stating that “Sidley Austin is the best in the business at activism defense work.” Similarly, Legal 500 has ranked Sidley in Tier 1 for Shareholder Activism – Advice to Boards, calling Sidley’s activism co-chairs Kai Haakon E. Liekefett and Derek Zaba “two of the best lawyers in America.” Sidley has been ranked No. 1 in the shareholder activism defense league tables by Bloomberg, FactSet, Diligent, and LSEG for company-side engagements since 2020. In the past five years, Sidley has represented companies in approximately 150 proxy contests, several hundred activist campaigns, and dozens of settlements — more than any other legal defense practice in the world.~~FactSet ranked Sidley as the No. 1 legal adviser for company defense in its U.S. activism and defense league tables for the first half of 2025. FactSet credited Sidley with 24 campaigns. Sidley also ranked as the No. 1 company-side legal adviser in The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) shareholder activism league tables for the first half of 2025. LSEG credited Sidley with 33 campaigns. The FactSet and LSEG rankings follow Sidley’s No. 1 ranking by Bloomberg in the first half of 2025, along with Sidley’s Band 1 ranking in Chambers USA in Corporate/M&A: Takeover Defense, stating that “Sidley Austin is the best in the business at activism defense work.” Similarly, Legal 500 has ranked Sidley in Tier 1 for Shareholder Activism – Advice to Boards, calling Sidley’s activism co-chairs Kai Haakon E. Liekefett and Derek Zaba “two of the best lawyers in America.” Sidley has been ranked No. 1 in the shareholder activism defense league tables by Bloomberg, FactSet, Diligent, and LSEG for company-side engagements since 2020. In the past five years, Sidley has represented companies in approximately 150 proxy contests, several hundred activist campaigns, and dozens of settlements — more than any other legal defense practice in the world.

Jul 22

2 min

Chambers USA published its selective list of leading practices and attorneys in the United States for the category “Takeover Defense” for 2025. Sidley was ranked in Band 1 for this practice for the fourth year in a row. In addition, the co-chairs of Sidley’s Shareholder Activism and Corporate Defense practice, Kai Liekefett and Derek Zaba, were both ranked individually in Band 1 and 2, respectively. These Chambers rankings follow Sidley’s No. 1 rankings by Bloomberg, FactSet, Diligent, and LSEG for company-side engagements by legal advisors globally and in the United States in the past five years. Sidley is also ranked in Tier 1 by The Legal 500 (U.S.) for “Shareholder Activism – Advice to Boards,” which also lists Kai Liekefett and Derek Zaba individually as leading lawyers for advice to boards. In the past five years, Sidley has represented companies in more than 150 proxy contests, several hundred activist campaigns, and dozens of settlements — more than any other defense law practice in the world.~~Chambers USA published its selective list of leading practices and attorneys in the United States for the category “Takeover Defense” for 2025. Sidley was ranked in Band 1 for this practice for the fourth year in a row. In addition, the co-chairs of Sidley’s Shareholder Activism and Corporate Defense practice, Kai Liekefett and Derek Zaba, were both ranked individually in Band 1 and 2, respectively. These Chambers rankings follow Sidley’s No. 1 rankings by Bloomberg, FactSet, Diligent, and LSEG for company-side engagements by legal advisors globally and in the United States in the past five years. Sidley is also ranked in Tier 1 by The Legal 500 (U.S.) for “Shareholder Activism – Advice to Boards,” which also lists Kai Liekefett and Derek Zaba individually as leading lawyers for advice to boards. In the past five years, Sidley has represented companies in more than 150 proxy contests, several hundred activist campaigns, and dozens of settlements — more than any other defense law practice in the world.

Jun 5

1 min