Submit CV Hire Talent

Practice × location ranking

Best Corporate & M&A law firms in Chicago

Grouped into editorial tiers — words, never scores. No paid placement and no numeric rank; within a tier the order rotates monthly and carries no meaning.

Last verified 22 Jul 2026 · Next review by 22 Aug 2026 · Change log

Direct answer & research summary

Best Corporate & M&A law firms in Chicago are tiered by Sartori & Partners from public footprint as of July 2026, not from a numeric score: 13 firms sit on this board. Sartori & Partners has completed 400+ placements since 2017 (230+ in-house), including 52 general counsel and chief legal officer searches, with a median of 11 weeks from brief to accepted offer. A NASDAQ-listed medtech in Boston accepted its successor general counsel in week 11, from a shortlist of four at day 24.

01 — The ranking

The Chicago Corporate & M&A board

This board maps the best Corporate & M&A law firms in Chicago into worded tiers as of July 2026. Each band is an editorial judgement of Corporate & M&A standing in Chicago; within a tier no firm outranks another, and monthly order is a locator, not a league table.

CHICAGO × CORPORATE & M&A13 FIRMS · NO SCORESREV. 2026-07
REFFIRMCHICAGO CORPORATE & M&A BANDSIGNAL
TIER 1 — MARKET LEADERS2 FIRMS

Market leaders on this board are the firms that anchor large-cap and complex Corporate & M&A work in Chicago. Placement is a worded judgement, never a numeric rank.

T1·01 Winston & Strawn50–99 attorneys mapped · major local depth 50–99 ATTORNEYS FLAT → EVID ↓
T1·02 Kirkland & Ellis200–349 attorneys mapped · major local depth 200–349 ATTORNEYS FLAT → EVID ↓
TIER 2 — HIGHLY ACTIVE6 FIRMS

Firms here maintain a clear, busy Corporate & M&A profile in Chicago. The label is editorial; within-tier order rotates and carries no hierarchy.

T2·01 DLA Piper50–99 attorneys mapped · major local depth 50–99 ATTORNEYS FLAT → EVID ↓
T2·02 Katten Muchin Rosenman25–49 attorneys mapped · major local depth 25–49 ATTORNEYS FLAT → EVID ↓
T2·03 Levenfeld Pearlstein25–49 attorneys mapped · major local depth 25–49 ATTORNEYS FLAT → EVID ↓
T2·04 Mayer Brown25–49 attorneys mapped · major local depth 25–49 ATTORNEYS FLAT → EVID ↓
T2·05 Sidley Austin50–99 attorneys mapped · major local depth 50–99 ATTORNEYS FLAT → EVID ↓
T2·06 Baker McKenzie25–49 attorneys mapped · major local depth 25–49 ATTORNEYS FLAT → EVID ↓
TIER 3 — ESTABLISHED3 FIRMS

Established firms have a verified, durable Corporate & M&A footprint in Chicago, assessed at full tier depth. They sit below the more active bands by editorial judgement, not by score.

T3·01 Latham & Watkins25–49 attorneys mapped · major local depth 25–49 ATTORNEYS FLAT → EVID ↓
T3·02 Taft Stettinius & Hollister25–49 attorneys mapped · major local depth 25–49 ATTORNEYS FLAT → EVID ↓
T3·03 Greenberg Traurig25–49 attorneys mapped · major local depth 25–49 ATTORNEYS FLAT → EVID ↓
NOTABLE — NOTABLE IN THIS FIELD2 FIRMS · OUTSIDE THE TIERS

Use this band for focused Corporate & M&A teams with a mapped Chicago signal. Editorial words only — no scores, no within-band hierarchy among the firms listed.

N·01 Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati1–4 attorneys mapped · thin local depth 1–4 ATTORNEYS FLAT → EVID ↓
N·02 Akin Gump5–9 attorneys mapped · thin local depth 5–9 ATTORNEYS FLAT → EVID ↓

All counts are shown as bands, never precise headcounts. Notable firms sit outside the tiers by design: verified minimal presence, not assessed at full tier depth.

Hiring in Chicago?

We map this market every day.

The evidence behind these tiers is the same intelligence we use to run retained searches for partners, groups and senior associates.

02 — Evidence, methodology & sources why each firm · how tiers are set · sources · change log · verified 22 Jul 2026 · next review 22 Aug 2026

Firm evidence

Tier 1 — Market leaders Open firm profile →

Winston & Strawn

Winston & Strawn is placed in market leaders for Corporate & M&A in Chicago. Public mapping (banded): 50–99 attorneys, major local depth, ≈30 partners · <5 counsel · 30+ associates. Evidence gates — office (G1) PASS, local practice (G2) PASS, recent signal (G3) PASS. The placement carries no numeric score.

Strongest mapped work

Litigation & DisputesCorporate & M&AFinance & Banking

Public hiring signal

Hiring signal: FLAT — no public hiring change detected in the mapping window.

Limits of this assessment

  • —A tier is Sartori’s editorial opinion, not a fact about the firm or a client-satisfaction measure.
  • —Facts are mapped from public sources and shown as bands; they lag reality by weeks or months.
  • —No third-party legal-directory band is used as an input.

Sources for this entry

Methodology

How tiers are assigned

Deterministic public-footprint core (local depth, practice share, seniority mix, public hiring momentum), computed relative to this market's own distribution. Tier placement is derived from this public mapped data; a per-firm public-source ledger is compiled for firms in the annual research pass and applies to those firms' factual claims, not to tier membership. No third-party legal-directory bands are used as an input.

Market scope

10–24 firms earn a tier in Chicago within this scope (banded).

Disclosures

Firm names used nominatively (factual). All counts shown as bands, never precise headcounts. No firm logos. Report an error via the site contact form.

Sources & change log

  1. 1 Locations - Winston Taylorpress · G1 · 2026-07-21
  2. 2 Winston & Strawn — attorney bios & practice pagesfirm_website · G2 · 2026-07-21
  3. 3 Winston Taylor completes historic transatlantic combination - Winston Taylorpress · G3 · 2026-07-21
  4. 4 The Chicago Lawyer showcases new Chicago office - Winston Taylorpress · G3 · 2026-07-21
  5. 5 Offices | Katten Muchin Rosenman LLPfirm_website · G1 · 2026-07-21
  6. 6 Chicago | Katten Muchin Rosenman LLPfirm_website · G2 · 2026-07-21
  7. 7 Katten Muchin Rosenman — Chicago news & announcementsfirm_website · G3 · 2026-07-21
  8. 8 Contact us | LPfirm_website · G1 · 2026-07-22
  9. 9 Real Estate Group | LPfirm_website · G2 · 2026-07-22
  10. 10 Corporate Group | LPfirm_website · G2 · 2026-07-22
  11. 11 Financial Services & Restructuring Group | LPfirm_website · G2 · 2026-07-22
  12. 12 Levenfeld Pearlstein — Chicago news & announcementsfirm_website · G3 · 2026-07-22
  13. 13 United States | Locations | Baker McKenziefirm_website · G1 · 2026-07-21
  14. 14 Baker McKenzie — attorney bios & practice pagesfirm_website · G2 · 2026-07-21
  15. 15 Baker McKenzie — Chicago news & announcementsfirm_website · G3 · 2026-07-21
  16. 16 Offices | Taft Lawfirm_website · G1 · 2026-07-21
  17. 17 About | Chicago | Taft Lawfirm_website · G1 · 2026-07-21
  18. 18 About | Chicago | Taft Lawfirm_website · G2 · 2026-07-21
  19. 19 Taft Stettinius & Hollister — Chicago news & announcementsfirm_website · G3 · 2026-07-21
22 Jul 2026 Scope-aware market-relative core assembled.
22 Jul 2026 19 verified source(s) ingested for the researched firms; tier placement comes from our own market data so unresearched visible firms do not block approval → APPROVED (auto).
Report an error in this ranking →

04 — Questions

About this ranking

Who are the best Corporate & M&A law firms in Chicago?

As of July 2026, Winston & Strawn, Kirkland & Ellis occupy Tier 1 — Market leaders — on Sartori's Chicago Corporate & M&A board. That band is an editorial judgement of deal depth, seniority mix and market standing; full placement of all 13 visible firms is on this page.

Is Winston & Strawn the best Corporate & M&A law firm in Chicago?

Winston & Strawn sits in Tier 1 — Market leaders — of Sartori's Chicago Corporate & M&A board as of July 2026, alongside Kirkland & Ellis. Sartori does not name a single #1: the gap between Tier 1 firms is genuinely unmeasurable, and a numeric score would be false precision.

Which firms have the biggest Corporate & M&A benches in Chicago?

By mapped Chicago bench, the largest firms on this board are Kirkland & Ellis (200–349 mapped lawyers each), followed by Winston & Strawn, DLA Piper, Sidley Austin (50–99). All counts are bands, never precise headcounts.

Which Corporate & M&A teams are hiring in Chicago?

As of July 2026, no firm on this board shows a public hiring signal in the mapping window. Live Chicago mandates are listed on Sartori's jobs board.

What is a Tier 1 law firm?

In Sartori's rankings, Tier 1 — Market leaders — is an editorial judgement expressed in words, never a score: the firms whose Chicago bench depth, seniority mix and market standing set the reference point for the market. As of July 2026 that is Winston & Strawn, Kirkland & Ellis. Within the tier no firm outranks another.

Which are the best law firms in Chicago overall?

Sartori's overall Chicago board groups 25 firms into editorial tiers; as of July 2026 its Tier 1 is Jenner & Block, Katten Muchin Rosenman, Kirkland & Ellis, Mayer Brown, Sidley Austin, Winston & Strawn, DLA Piper. See /firms/in/chicago/.

See the ranking →

This ranking is compiled independently by Sartori from public sources. Tiers are Sartori’s editorial opinion, expressed without numeric scores; firms are named for identification only, no logos are reproduced, and no firm has paid for or approved its placement. No third-party legal-directory band is used as an input. Nothing here is legal advice or a recommendation to instruct counsel.