Landmark client successes
- Liberty Global on its USD3.2bn Sunrise Communications spin-off and dual listing
- Prosus on its EUR4.1bn acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway.com
- Exscientia on its combination with US-based biotech company Recursion
- The lenders on the restructuring of over USD11.5bn in offshore debt for Shimao Group Holdings
- The underwriters on TD Bank’s USD14.6bn exit from Charles Schwab
- The underwriters and funders on the EUR5.8bn debt refinancing of XpFibre
- Uber on a litigation victory in a Securities Exchange Act case against Uber and its officers
- SAP on a litigation victory in connection with the USD12.5bn sale of Qualtrics to Silver Lake Capital
Innovation leadership – pioneering AI and transforming legal delivery through technology
The firm continues to advance the boundaries of technology for lawyers. A&O Shearman was the first firm globally to deploy generative AI enterprise-wide when it rolled out Harvey in 2022. ContractMatrix, the firm’s award-winning AI-based contract management platform, is built in collaboration with Harvey and Microsoft.
In April 2025, the firm began rolling out a suite of agentic AI agents, built in partnership with Harvey, that tackle complex legal workflows. The initial agents focus on antitrust filing analysis, cybersecurity, fund formation, and loan review – high-value areas requiring deep legal expertise and multi-step reasoning.
A&O Shearman brings this understanding of AI technologies (and the infrastructure used to build them) and real-world AI governance to deliver innovative and uniquely pragmatic advice to clients on managing AI legal risk. The firm has dedicated AI experts in every major jurisdiction across the full risk spectrum and every stage of the AI value chain. The firm counsels numerous tech and industry giants, some of the largest AI foundation model developers, three of the five biggest Western banks in the world, and a G20 country on its national AI strategy and AI regulation.
A&O Shearman has begun FY26 with landmark client wins, including advising Partners Group on its joint acquisition of Techem – the largest M&A transaction in Germany this year; Athora on its GBP5.7bn acquisition of Pension Insurance Corporation Group; Sanmina in its USD3bn acquisition of ZT Systems’ data center business; the lenders on EQT’s USD5.5bn acquisition of Fortnox AB; Froneri on its EUR4.25bn financing; and Sizewell C on its supply chain and contracting strategy for the GBP38bn nuclear project.