Francis J Aquila

Mergers & Acquisitions; Consumer & Retail; Corporate Governance; Crisis Management; Shareholder Activism; ESG; Healthcare & Life Sciences; Intellectual Property & Technology; M&A Financial Advisory and Valuation; Restructuring; Technology

Described by The Financial Times as “one of the most influential and high-profile M&A and corporate lawyers in the U.S.” Profiled by The Wall Street Journal as one of the top dealmakers of 2019 and 2018 and by Insider as one of the world’s top “M&A lawyers leading the way today” in 2021. Frank has been called upon by global leaders including Amgen, Andeavor, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Baxter, Biohaven, Bosch, Canadian Pacific, Cheniere, Cornerstone Building Brands, Diageo, Diebold Nixdorf, Gamestop, Haleon, International Airline Group, Kering, Kraft, Navistar, Novartis, Subway, Tiffany & Co. and United Rentals to advise them and their boards on M&A, corporate governance, activism, proxy contests, unsolicited bids, ransomware attacks, short squeezes, crisis management and a range of matters affecting corporate policy and strategy. Consistently recognized as one of the world’s leading lawyers, including as a three-time American Lawyer “Dealmaker of the Year,” a “Top 10 Legal Innovator in North America” by The Financial Times, Best Lawyers in America’s Corporate Governance “Lawyer of the Year,” Atlas Award’s “Global M&A Lawyer of the Year,” Who’s Who Legal , National Law Journal’s “M&A Trailblazer,” three-time Law360 MVP, NACD “Directorship 100,” two-time winner of the Burton Award for Legal Achievement, ABA’s “Legal Rebel” and a BTI Elite MVP All-Star. S&C’s Senior M&A Partner who has served on the Firm’s Management Committee, as Global Head of M&A and Co-Managing Partner of S&C’s General Practice Group.

Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity; Fellow of the Foreign Policy Association; Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation; Chairman of the Board of Brooklyn Law School; Trustee (former Chairman) of The NALP Foundation for Law Career Research and Education; Director and Secretary of National Theatre in America

Brooklyn Law School (JD); Columbia University (AB).