Fried Frank Earns Top Rankings in Chambers USA 2026

Demonstrating continued excellence across its core practice areas, Fried Frank once again earned top rankings in the latest edition of Chambers USA, which recognizes the leading lawyers and law firms across the US legal market.

In the 2026 guide, the firm is ranked across 40 practice areas, including 19 recognitions in the highest bands - with half of those practices receiving Band 1 rankings for consecutive years.

In addition, there are 89 individual recognitions, including 13 individuals ranked in Band 1 and several as "Up & Coming," among other distinctions.

The firm is newly ranked in the Litigation: General Commercial: Highly Regarded (Nationwide) category. Seven firm lawyers also made their Chambers USA rankings debut in this year's guide.

The firm was ranked in the following categories and regions:

Nationwide
Banking & Finance
Capital Markets: Equity: Issuer Counsel
Capital Markets: High-Yield Debt
Capital Markets: Investment Grade Debt: Issuer Counsel
Capital Markets: Investment Grade Debt: Manager Counsel
Capital Markets: Structured Products
Corporate Crime & Investigations: Highly Regarded
Corporate/M&A: The Elite
Derivatives
Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation
Financial Services Regulation: Broker Dealer (Compliance & Enforcement)
Government Contracts: The Elite
Hedge Funds
Investment Funds: Regulatory & Compliance
Litigation: General Commercial: Highly Regarded
Private Equity: Buyouts: Mid-Market
Private Equity: Fund Formation
Real Estate
REITs
Tax: Corporate & Finance

New York
Antitrust
Banking & Finance
Bankruptcy/Restructuring: Highly Regarded
Corporate/M&A: Highly Regarded
Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation
Environment: Mainly Transactional
Litigation: General Commercial: Highly Regarded
Litigation: Securities
Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations: The Elite
Private Equity: Buyouts
Real Estate: Litigation
Real Estate: Mainly Corporate & Finance
Real Estate: Mainly Dirt
Real Estate: Zoning/Land Use
Tax
Technology

District of Columbia
Corporate/M&A & Private Equity
Litigation: General Commercial: Highly Regarded
Real Estate
Tax

Fried Frank lawyers were ranked in the following categories and corresponding regions:

Nationwide

Capital Markets: Debt & Equity: Eastern United States
Andrew B. Barkan, Daniel J. Bursky and Mark Hayek

Capital Markets: Structured Products
Ray I. Shirazi and Michael Yu

Derivatives
William J. Breslin, David S. Mitchell, Nihal Patel, Ray I. Shirazi and Josh Xiong

Financial Services Regulation: Banking (Compliance)
Joseph P. Vitale

Financial Services Regulation: Broker Dealer (Compliance)
Nihal Patel

Financial Services Regulation: Financial Institutions M&A
Joseph P. Vitale

Government Contracts
Michael J. Anstett, Alexander B. Ginsberg and James J. McCullough

Government Contracts: Bid Protests
Alexander B. Ginsberg and James J. McCullough

Hedge Funds
Jonathan S. Adler, Lawrence N. Barshay, Dorothy Mehta, Lisa M. Schneider and Allison Yacker

International Trade: CFIUS Experts
Michael T. Gershberg

International Trade: Export Controls & Economic Sanctions
Michael T. Gershberg

Investment Funds: Regulatory & Compliance
Jessica Forbes and Michael L. Sherman

Private Credit
Caroline Sandberg

Private Equity: Fund Formation
Lawrence N. Barshay, Kenneth I. Rosh, Jeffrey Schatz and Becky Zelenka

REITs
Stuart A. Barr

New York

Antitrust
Aleksandr B. Livshits and Bernard (Barry) A. Nigro Jr.

Banking & Finance
Daniel J. Bursky, Mark Hayek, F. William Reindel, Adam D. Summers and Monica Thurmond

Bankruptcy/Restructuring
Brad Eric Scheler

Corporate/M&A
Steven Epstein and Philip Richter

Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation
Jeffrey Ross

Environment
Wesley O'Brien

Environment: Mainly Transactional
Donna Mussio

Litigation: Securities
Scott B. Luftglass, Peter L. Simmons and Michael P. Sternheim

Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations
Geoffrey S. Berman, Ilan T. Graff, Stephen M. Juris and Audrey Strauss

Private Equity: Buyouts
Christopher Ewan and Steven J. Steinman

Real Estate: Corporate
Fiona J. Kelly and Steven Rudgayzer

Real Estate: Finance
Michael J. Barker and Michael Vines

Real Estate: Litigation
Emilie B. Cooper, Janice Mac Avoy and Matthew D. Parrott

Real Estate: Mainly Dirt
Adam Endick, Tal J. Golomb, Christy Mazzola, Jonathan L. Mechanic, Wallace Schwartz, Robert Sorin and Michael J. Werner

Real Estate: Zoning/Land Use
Zachary Bernstein, David M. Karnovsky, Jeremy Kozin, Melanie Meyers and Carol E. Rosenthal

Tax
Robert Cassanos, Colin S. Kelly, David I. Shapiro and Libin Zhang

Technology
Jason L. Greenberg

District of Columbia

Antitrust
Shawn R. Johnson, Bernard (Barry) A. Nigro Jr. and Kathy O'Neill

Corporate/M&A & Private Equity
Andrew P. Varney

Real Estate
Valerie Kelly and Franz R. Rassman

Tax
Michael J. Alter, Michelle B. Gold, Shane C. Hoffmann, Alan S. Kaden

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