King & Spalding LLP

Over its 140-year history, King & Spalding has branched far from its Southern roots to open offices across the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, giving West Coast and Northeastern firms a run for their money. With stellar corporate, litigation, and regulatory practices, the firm counts among its longtime clients public and private companies across industries. 

A King Rises

In 1885, Alex C. King and Jack J. Spalding founded what eventually became Atlanta’s largest law firm. Among the firm’s early matters was extensive service for the railroad industry. And like true royalty, the firm was rich in connections—in 1918, King was appointed U.S. Solicitor General, and in the 1940s, Spalding’s son Hughes forged many of the firm’s key alliances, including those with The Coca-Cola Company and Trust Company Bank.

In the late 20th century and into the early 21st century, the firm began a series of expansions that made it into the global firm it is today, first opening shop in DC, followed by New York and Houston. The expansion bug bit and the firm continued its growth both in the U.S. and on an international scale, now boasting 23 offices in 10 countries.

Holistic Practice

With an eye toward the increasing multi-disciplinary nature of today’s legal practice, King & Spalding is organized into three large practice groups: Trial & Global Disputes (Litigation); Corporate, Finance & Investments (Transactional), and Government Matters (Regulatory/Investigations). The firm counsels clients across myriad industries, including automotive, transportation, and mobility; energy; financial services; food and beverage; higher education; technology; and life sciences and healthcare. 

The firm has a robust trial and global disputes practice—with more than 450 litigators around the world—and is among the top 25 in Vault’s General Commercial Litigation ranking. The firm is particularly adept at cross-border work and is known for its strong international arbitration and litigation practice. Indeed, the firm has worked on arbitrations in more than 140 countries, and its practice is top ranked by the Global Arbitration Review. 

King & Spalding’s Government Matters team includes former leaders at the Department of Justice, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Administration, the Federal Trade Commission, The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Commerce, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the Bank of England, the U.K’s Financial Reporting Council and the World Trade Organization.” The firm is among the top 25 in Vault’s White Collar & Internal Investigations ranking, has been honored twice by Law360 as White Collar Practice Group of the Year, and is one of Global Investigation Review’s Top 25 Firms for Investigations.

The firm’s Corporate, Finance & Investments team includes more than 500 lawyers in 23 offices across the world to help clients execute complex, high-value transactions. They advise on a full range of domestic and cross-border transactions, including finance and restructuring, capital markets, M&A and private equity, investment funds, real estate, construction, energy & infrastructure projects, tax, and global human capital matters, among others. In the last four years, its global finance team has closed 1500-plus finance transactions totaling over $400 billion in aggregate financing. Its corporate team has handled over 300 M&A transactions in 2022 and 55 deals over $1 billion in the past five years. The projects and construction team has handled over $500 billion in construction deals. The firm’s transactional teams are regularly recognized by legal publications, including 27 practices and 54 lawyers ranked in Chambers USA 2022 and recognition for the projects and construction team as Law360’s “Practice Group of the Year” in 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2022. 

Making Connections

Lawyers at King & Spalding are encouraged to network with each other. One way the firm fosters these relationships is through Connect K&S, which is an office visit program through which associates can travel to other offices on the firm’s dime. Since matters are assigned across offices, this program allows associates to strengthen relationships with those they are working with in other locations.

• Summary judgment granted for K&S client Petersen Energia and Eton Park Capital Management in a long-running breach of contract litigation against the Republic of Argentina and oil company YPF.
• Represent The Daniel Anderl Judicial Protection Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to securing the safety and privacy of members of the judicial community and their families.
• Advises Transmission Developers on First of Kind HVDC Renewable Project in NYC.
• Successfully secured a ruling, along with co-counsel, that helped get thousands of claims dismissed in Zantac MDL, ending approximately 50,000 claims against multiple defendants, including our client Boehringer Ingelheim.
• Advised Exterran Corporation (NYSE: EXTN) in its business combination with Energlex Ltd. (TSX: EFX), to create a premier integrated global provider of energy infrastructure in a $1.5 billion transaction.

• Number One International Arbitration Practice, 2023—Global Arbitration Review
• Ranked Among Top Firms for Client Service, 2023—BTI Consulting
• Named “Best Law Firm in Arbitration, Insolvency & Restructuring,” 2022—Islamic Finance News
• Top Score in HRC Report on LGBTQ+ Workplace Equality, 2022—Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Annual Corporate Equality Index