Wall Street origins

Shearman & Sterling was founded in New York City in 1873 by Thomas Shearman (/ˈʃɜːrmən/) and John William Sterling, who concentrated on litigation and transactional matters respectively. The young firm represented financier Jay Gould and industrialist Henry Ford, and cultivated a number of important business ties that would evolve into long-standing client relationships, such as with the Rockefeller family and the predecessor banks to Citigroup and Deutsche Bank.^[3]

Postwar global expansion

The firm expanded internationally during the post-World War II era, under the direction of Boykin C. Wright, a senior partner who joined the firm from Cahill Gordon & Reindel with a group of lawyers, briefly leading the firm to add his name to the letterhead.^[4] The firm's first international office was established in Paris in 1963.^[5]

Hong Kong office at The Landmark's Gloucester Tower

Bolstering the firm's reputation in international law, President Eisenhower tapped partner Fredrick McCurdy Eaton to be the United States' lead negotiator at the 1960 Nuclear Ten Nation Committee on Disarmament,^[6] in Geneva. From 1964 to 1975, Mr. Eaton was the senior partner.

In postwar Germany, Shearman & Sterling helped German companies such as Siemens and BASF restructure their debts and re-emerge as credible exporters to the United States. The firm's lawyers assisted Daimler in its listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 1993, the first such listing by a German company, prompting other major companies to follow suit.^[7] The firm then represented the German automaker in its purchase and subsequent sale of Chrysler.^[8] The company practices mergers and acquisitions in Germany, and operates one of the largest London offices of a non-UK law firm.^[9]

The firm played an important role in the establishment of state-owned oil and gas companies, including Sonatrach in Algeria and throughout the Middle East. In 1979, Shearman & Sterling lawyers represented Citibank during the intense negotiations that ensued during the Iranian Hostage Crisis, after the US government froze all Iranian assets in US banks.^[10]

During the 1980s, firm attorneys helped restructure the debts of many Latin American nations in the Brady transactions, and also won mandates in the privatization of numerous state-owned entities. In 2004, the firm launched an office in São Paulo, Brazil and has since represented Brazilian companies in a number of important transactions.^[11]

In East Asia, Shearman & Sterling was one of the first firms to grasp the future strategic importance of the Asia-Pacific region, establishing offices in Hong Kong in 1978, followed by Tokyo, Beijing, Singapore and Shanghai.^[12] In late 2018, the firm received a license to open an office in Seoul, headed by Singapore partner Anna Chung.^[13]

21st century domestic expansion

Domestically, Shearman & Sterling opened up an office in Austin in the first half of 2018 and another office in Houston just two months later.^[14][15]

On May 21, 2023, it was announced that Shearman & Sterling had agreed to terms in a merger with UK Magic Circle member Allen & Overy, creating a megafirm estimated to have over 4,000 attorneys across 49 offices. The combined firm will be known as A&O Shearman.^[16]

New York City office at 599 Lexington Avenue

Business

• Markus U. Diethelm, former international associate (1989–1992), and current general counsel of UBS AG.
• Philippe Dauman, former associate (1978–1987) and partner (1987–1993), and former CEO of Viacom.
• Mitch Caplan, former associate (1984–1990) and former CEO of E-Trade.
• Dr. Ann Olivarius, former Head of Corporate Practice, Washington, DC (1991-1992), and now Chair of the Executive Committee, McAllister Olivarius.
• Bob Woodruff, former associate and ABC News journalist.
• Nina Zagat, co-founder and co-chair of the Zagat Survey, was associated with the firm from 1966-1990.
• Tim Bezbatchenko, current general manager of Toronto FC of Major League Soccer.

Government

• Melody Barnes, former associate and former senior domestic policy adviser to former President Barack Obama.
• Laurens Jan Brinkhorst, Dutch politician, minister and member of the European Parliament.
• Raymond J. Dearie, former associate (1969–1971), Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
• James Donato, former partner (2009–2014), Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
• Joseph A. Doyle, former associate (1947–1956) and partner (1956–1979), Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) in the Carter Administration.
• William Francis Kuntz, former associate (1978–1986), Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
• John McCarthy, former associate (1966–1967), and former Australian ambassador to various countries including Vietnam, Mexico, the United States and Japan.
• Jeffrey A. Meyer, former associate, Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut.
• Caroline Mulroney, former associate and former Attorney General of Ontario.
• Clark T. Randt, Jr., formerly Shearman & Sterling's China Managing Partner, served as U.S. Ambassador to China from 2001-2009.

Academia

• Charles ("Chuck") W. Mooney Jr., the Charles A. Heimbold, Jr. Professor of Law, and former interim Dean, at the University of Pennsylvania Law School
• Robert Mundheim (born 1933), attorney, law professor, and Dean of the University of Pennsylvania Law School