Litigation

In today’s legal and regulatory environment, litigation can threaten a company’s very existence. Skadden’s lawyers have extensive experience with such complex, “bet-the-company” litigation matters, and we are widely recognized for our ability to handle our clients’ most critical litigation issues. The firm can rapidly assemble a focused, integrated and efficient team to address all important aspects of a client’s problem and to handle numerous cases in multiple jurisdictions and forums. We have handled some of the largest and most high-profile cases in recent years, earning a reputation as a go-to firm for litigation, and we are responsible for numerous decisions, from the trial courts to the U.S. Supreme Court, that have shaped various areas of law.

Our Litigation Group comprises approximately 600 attorneys throughout the firm’s offices worldwide, and Skadden attorneys are admitted to practice throughout the United States as well as in more than 30 other countries and territories. In particular, our New York-based attorneys have extensively litigated in New York state and federal courts, and the group was named the New York Law Journal’s 2021 Litigation Department of the Year and a finalist in the General Litigation category of the publication’s 2024, 2023 and 2022 competitions, as well as a finalist in the class action and finance categories in 2024. Moreover, Skadden was the first national law firm to establish a presence in Delaware more than 40 years ago, and our Delaware litigation attorneys have a wealth of experience in the renowned Court of Chancery. Our California-based offices, in Los Angeles and Palo Alto, as well as our Washington D.C., Chicago, Boston and Houston offices, round out our national presence, allowing us to effectively handle complex disputes that may arise in any U.S. jurisdiction, or several jurisdictions at once. Our international experience, through offices in Asia Pacific, Europe and Latin America, and our numerous multilingual attorneys, further enable us to seamlessly represent clients globally and to successfully handle disputes of an international nature.

In addition to our New York Law Journal recognition, our accolades include:

• Repeatedly named to the Fearsome Foursome — the top four firms that clients “don’t want to litigate against” — and, in 2024, ranked as a Litigation Powerhouse (top 1% of all firms) for Complex Commercial Litigation, Cybersecurity, and Securities and Finance; a Litigation Leader for Class Action (top 4% of all firms) and Product Liability (top 6% of all firms); and Distinguished in Litigation for IP Litigation (top 10% of all firms) (The BTI Consulting Group).
• Named a top-tier firm in the Antitrust, Bankruptcy, General Commercial, International Arbitration, Product Liability, Securities and White Collar categories (Benchmark Litigation, 2025).
• Named 2025 Law Firm of the Year for Commercial and Securities Litigation and recognized as a top-tier firm for Litigation in the categories of: Antitrust, Bankruptcy, Commercial, Criminal Defense: White Collar, Intellectual Property, International Arbitration, Mass Tort/Class Actions – Defendants, Mergers & Acquisitions, Real Estate, Regulatory Enforcement (SEC, Telecom, Energy), Securities and Tax Controversy (Best Lawyers Best Law Firms, 2025).
• Litigation, Arbitration and Dispute Resolution Team of the Year (Law.com British Legal Awards, 2023).
• Appellate Hot List (The National Law Journal Legal Awards, 2023).
• Washington, D.C. Litigation Department of the Year for Product Liability (The National Law Journal, 2022).
• Among 2022 Practice Groups of the Year: Product Liability (Law360).
• Litigation Department of the Year finalist (The American Lawyer, 2021).

We represent clients in all stages of litigation, from applying cutting edge e-discovery capabilities to trials. Indeed, Skadden is recognized as having a leading national trial practice, and our attorneys score groundbreaking precedent-setting trial wins that are highly favorable to our clients’ bottom line. Our trial lawyers often inherit cases from other firms when trial is imminent, and we offer the capabilities to quickly pull together crisis teams to confront challenges wherever our clients face them. Moreover, our attorneys are no strangers to appellate state and federal courts throughout the country. We also frequently appear in arbitral forums, including the American Arbitration Association, JAMS, FINRA, the International Centre for Dispute Resolution and other domestic and international dispute resolution tribunals.

Our team represents clients in proceedings involving numerous government agencies, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Attorney General’s Office, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the New York Stock Exchange, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the U.S. Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service. We also serve in an advisory capacity, striving to achieve results that best align with our clients’ business goals.

Our attorneys have significant experience litigating all types of complex commercial claims, including contract disputes; fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and tortious interference claims; non-compete litigation; merger-related litigation and control disputes; joint venture and partnership disputes; bankruptcy and restructuring-related issues; and statutory claims. Our renowned securities litigation practice frequently handles some of the most challenging, high-stakes securities litigation matters, and we have served as lead counsel in several of the largest securities class actions in U.S. history. Our experience in these and other complex litigation claims spans numerous industries, including banking, energy, financial services, insurance, health care, manufacturing, mortgage, pharmaceutical, real estate, retail, technology and telecommunications.

In addition to handling some of the largest, most complex litigations, Skadden attorneys represent clients in a wide variety of pro bono matters, from trials to the U.S. Supreme Court.