Edward Best

Practice Areas

Eddie Best is a partner at Willkie, where he is a member of the Corporate & Financial Services Department and Co-Chair of the Capital Markets practice. He is based in Chicago and maintains an office in New York. With nearly 40 years of experience, Eddie is recognized as one of the nation's leading capital markets lawyers, representing issuers and underwriters in debt, equity, convertible and hybrid securities offerings, and liability management transactions in the U.S. and international markets. His comprehensive capital markets practice includes a particular focus on offerings by financial institutions, including banks, insurance companies, broker-dealers, and specialty finance companies, as well as cross-border offerings. Eddie also regularly advises publicly listed clients on ongoing securities law compliance, listing compliance, and corporate governance matters.

Eddie is consistently recognized by Chambers USA among the leading practitioners in the area of Capital Markets: Debt & Equity in the Eastern United States. In its 2025 edition, clients reported to Chambers that Eddie "has a wealth of knowledge, is practical and extremely helpful," and that Eddie "is at top of the game." Eddie is also listed in The Legal 500 United States for Capital Markets: Debt Offerings and for Capital Markets: High-Yield Debt Offerings. In addition, Eddie was named 1 of 31 “Best of the Best USA” capital markets lawyers by Expert Guides (2022) as well as "Capital Markets Lawyer of the Year - Illinois, USA" by Global 100 in 2021 and 2023.

Eddie advises clients on mergers and acquisitions transactions, with a particular focus on roll-up transactions as well as transactions by financial institutions, including insurance companies, broker-dealers, and asset managers.

Eddie received his JD, cum laude, from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 1986 and a A.B. from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, in 1982.

Bar Admissions

Illinois, New York

Professional Memberships

American Bar Association, Sub-committee on Federal Regulation of Securities

Awards