The following is an excerpt from Practice Perspectives: Vault's Guide to Legal Practice Areas.
Sanjay Murti is a partner in the corporate department of Freshfields’ New York office. He focuses his practice on M&A, as well as shareholder activism defense, corporate governance, and general corporate matters. Sanjay’s clients include companies at every stage, from startup to publicly traded, across a wide variety of industries. He was listed as a Next Generation M&A partner by Lawdragon in 2024 and is a Law360 Mergers & Acquisitions Editorial Advisory Board member. Within the firm, he serves on the Recruiting Committee and the Talent Development Committee and is a partner liaison to Freshfields’ Asian/Pacific/South Asian/American Employee Resource Group.
Sanjay was born in Red Bank, New Jersey. He received a B.S. magna cum laude from Georgetown University in 2010 and a J.D. from Columbia Law School in 2014, where he was a James Kent Scholar.
Describe your practice area and what it entails.
As an M&A lawyer at Freshfields, my practice principally entails representing corporate clients undertaking significant transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, spin-offs, and joint ventures, as well as providing advice on activist defense, hostile takeovers, and other corporate governance matters. With that said, being an M&A lawyer is not only about signing deals. Being a trusted advisor means being a true partner to your clients, understanding their business objectives, and providing guidance on any number of important legal or commercial issues that may arise in the ordinary course of their business. I focus a meaningful portion of my practice on being available for my clients for general strategy and advice on a day-to-day basis.
What types of clients do you represent?
I represent a wide variety of companies around the world, both public and private, across various industries and at varying stages of their life cycle. Over my career, I have had the opportunity to work with some of the world’s largest public companies on multibillion-dollar transactions, with smaller private companies undergoing transformative change, and even with young founders looking to turbocharge growth for their startups. In that time, I have learned a lot about different industry sectors—from pharmaceuticals and medical devices to media and entertainment, railroads and energy, software and chipsets, billboards, and beer. This diversity in clients is a function of Freshfields’ generalist approach to the M&A practice, as well as the strength of the firm’s global offering.
What types of cases/deals do you work on?
Again, the breadth of my M&A practice provides me the opportunity to work on a wide range of transactions and matters. In the past few years, for example, I have represented public companies in numerous potential acquisitions, sales, and divestitures; worked on one of the largest spin-offs in history; represented the special committee of a public company board in a take-private transaction; advised on a successful deal jump; negotiated an equity investment and a strategic partnership; and represented a private company in its business combination with a special purpose acquisition company. In addition, I’ve guided clients through engagements with activists, advised on governance improvements, and helped sort out conflicts with commercial counterparties.
How did you choose this practice area?
When I first started as a summer associate, I didn’t have a clear understanding of what corporate lawyers did or what the M&A practice really entailed. But as I worked on deals, I was drawn to the energy, the pace, and the variety of challenges that each transaction brought. I enjoyed diving into the complicated questions that seemed inherent in M&A and working with colleagues and clients to craft creative solutions. I also noticed that the M&A partners I worked with often seemed to serve as true advisors and counselors to their clients, offering strategic guidance that went far beyond legal advice on any individual transaction. Over the course of my career, I did explore other practice areas, but I always found myself coming back to M&A. Ultimately, for me, the creativity, strategic thinking, problem-solving, and variety inherent in M&A work were unparalleled.
What is a “typical” day like and/or what are some common tasks you perform?
The interesting part of being an M&A lawyer is that there is no typical day. What I do on any given day is often a function of the matters I am working on and what stage they are in at the time. Generally speaking, though, my day often involves meetings with clients, counterparties, and their advisors and working (mostly) collaboratively to understand the principals’ objectives and concerns and to properly address them in the deal. It also involves drafting and reviewing transaction documentation, coordinating with other lawyers on the team focusing on the more-specialized aspects of a transaction (e.g., intellectual property, tax, executive compensation), and quarterbacking the overall deal process. It includes taking time to answer calls and emails from clients and prospective clients, whether they relate to an active deal or just a one-off question.
Importantly, I also spend a meaningful portion of my time promoting Freshfields’ culture of collegiality, training, and inclusivity. Depending on the day, that may take the form of sitting down with an associate to walk through a markup, giving a presentation on recent developments in Delaware case law, helping to plan an employee resource group event, or even taking the team out to a celebratory dinner to recognize their hard work.
What training, classes, experience, or skills development would you recommend to someone who wishes to enter your practice area?
It is hard to replicate what corporate lawyers do in the classroom environment, so many of the legal skills you will need to be a good M&A lawyer you will acquire on the job. As a result, I generally tell law students to just take courses and seminars that interest them. With that said, I think there is real value in familiarizing yourself with the corporate world, particularly if you do not have a finance or economics background. Taking more business-focused courses in accounting or corporate finance can provide a head start but so too can being an avid consumer of finance-focused media: The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and Bloomberg, for starters.
What is the most challenging aspect of practicing in this area?
The M&A practice is fast-paced and often high-stakes, and while that can make for exciting and interesting work, it can also sometimes mean long and demanding hours. As a result, an important part of being an M&A lawyer is being thoughtful and intentional about managing your time and stress levels. For me, it comes down to maintaining perspective, keeping up a manageable work-life balance, and relying on the people around you. That doesn’t mean shirking your responsibilities to your clients, but it does mean using your downtime to keep up with your hobbies, interests, and family and friends. It is also important to be open with your team when you need time off (for important events or otherwise) and to trust your colleagues to pick up slack when necessary—and to do the same for them. Your practice can only be successful if it is also sustainable.
What do you like best about your practice area?
For me, the best part of M&A is how much of what we do really requires creativity and strategic thinking. Working on M&A transactions is, at its core, problem-solving: It requires you to think deeply about your clients’ objectives and business goals and devise solutions that work for all parties. Because no two transactions are the same, it is rare that something that worked the last time will be the best approach on the next deal. That means you constantly have to revisit your assumptions, look at the problem from different angles, and innovate. And that makes the M&A practice exciting and always keeps things fresh.
What is unique about your practice area at your firm?
What’s unique about M&A at Freshfields is how global and collaborative our practice is. M&A has become increasingly cross-border, with most deals involving multiple jurisdictions and complex legal and regulatory challenges. Freshfields is uniquely positioned to handle this, with top-tier teams across all key practice areas and offices worldwide. This means we are able to provide seamless, integrated solutions for even the most challenging transactions. But what really sets Freshfields apart is the people. Freshfields is known for having some of the smartest and most talented lawyers in the world, but almost more importantly, it is made up of people who are highly collaborative and dedicated to the collective success of the team. Our lawyers are used to working together closely across regions and disciplines, making Freshfields not only a leader in global M&A but also a great place to learn and grow as a lawyer.
What kinds of experience can summer associates gain at this practice area at your firm?
At Freshfields, we view the summer associate program as a real opportunity for summers to get to experience what it is truly like to be a practicing lawyer. Across the firm, our summers are treated as full members of the team and are asked to contribute to matters in the same way our first-year associates are. That means getting to draft documents, join and participate in meetings and negotiations, coordinate with clients and internal experts, and ultimately, help drive the matter forward. To ensure that all summers truly benefit from the program, each of our summers is assigned an individual partner mentor, who is able to provide guidance, training, and often, a few good meals. As a result, by the time our associates join us full time after graduation, they start with months of experience, a strong relationship with a potential partner mentor, and early direct feedback on how to grow and advance. Of course, the summer is also a great opportunity for summer associates to get to know the firm, and so summers are encouraged throughout the program to attend events, meet their fellow classmates, and engage with their future colleagues.