What Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton does

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton is a privately-held international law firm organized as a limited liability partnership (LLP), with its primary entity domiciled in New York and affiliated entities in the UK, Italy, Brazil, and Hong Kong. The firm was founded in 1946 and operates 14 offices across the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East, employing approximately 1,100 lawyers led by 240 partners and supported by 1,200 professional staff. Cleary generated over $1.7 billion in gross revenue (Business Insider via former managing partner Michael Gerstenzang) and advises large corporations, financial institutions (banks, private equity, asset managers) and sovereign governments on cross-border M&A, capital markets, competition, restructuring, and litigation matters. Notable mandates include Uzbekistan's $2.4 billion LSE IPO, Busy Ming's $470 million Hong Kong IPO as joint sponsor advisor, and Brazil sugar/ethanol producer Raizen on liquidity crisis work. Pricing is built on the billable-hour model standard to BigLaw (specific rates not publicly disclosed), with enterprise, partner-led engagement teams as the dominant GTM motion.

The firm's core technology assets sit inside subsidiary ClearyX, a wholly-owned alternative legal and business services arm offering the CX+ platform — comprising CX+Insights for contract portfolio management and CX+Transact for M&A due diligence — with model-agnostic architecture and native document-management integrations, documented across 150+ deals with claimed 40-60% time and cost savings. Internal AI capability was seeded by the 2023 acquisition of Springbok AI (10 data scientists and engineers), and the firm also licenses Harvey AI, has rolled out Swedish legal-AI vendor Legora firmwide, co-developed AI workflow tooling with Lighthouse Global for FTC HSR second-request handling, and implemented Litera Foundation's knowledge management platform across five practice areas since 2020. CX+ products are sold via subscription with flexible licensing to in-house legal teams, positioning ClearyX partly as a hedge against AI-driven billable-hour compression. The firm has recognized Responsible AI Principles aligned with GDPR and CCPA obligations, holds multiple Chambers and FT Innovative Lawyers recognitions, and is investing in client-facing AI ecosystems through its design-partner role in Legora Portal alongside eleven other major firms.

Name

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton

Legal name

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP

Website

https://clearygottlieb.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1955

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton is a privately-held international law firm operating 14 offices across the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East, advising large corporations, financial institutions, and sovereign governments on cross-border M&A, capital markets, litigation, and regulatory matters through partner-led teams and an AI-enabled subsidiary, ClearyX.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

International Legal Services

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (541110), Legal Services (5411)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Cross-Border M&A Advisory (FSAEAGAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Buy-Side M&A Advisory (FSAEAGAB), Due Diligence & Investigative Research (BPAHALAI)

Keywords

• International legal services
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Capital markets advisory
• Antitrust and competition
• Corporate restructuring

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices13 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Legal Services Fees: Traditional law firm billing model based on billable hours for legal services including M&A advisory, capital markets, litigation, competition law, restructuring, and other practice areas. The firm generated over $1.7 billion in gross revenue.
2. ClearyX AI Products: ClearyX subsidiary sells AI-powered contract insights and due diligence tools to in-house legal teams with flexible licensing options. Products claim 40-60% cost and time savings on due diligence compared to manual review.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton is an international law firm providing full-service legal advice across corporate transactions (M&A, capital markets, private equity, restructuring), dispute resolution (litigation, international arbitration, white-collar defense), and regulatory matters (antitrust/competition, sanctions, cybersecurity, ESG). The firm serves multinational corporations, financial institutions, sovereign governments, and in-house legal teams through 14 global offices. It also operates ClearyX, a wholly-owned technology subsidiary offering AI-powered contract intelligence and due diligence tools.

Product overview

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton operates as a global law firm with a multi-offering technology portfolio. The core AI product is the CX+ Platform (comprising CX+Insights for contract portfolio management and CX+Transact for M&A due diligence), offered through its tech subsidiary ClearyX. The firm also licenses external AI tools including Legora and Harvey, and uses Litera Foundation for knowledge management. The CX+ platform claims 40-60% time and cost savings based on 150+ deals, with model-agnostic architecture and native document management system integrations. The firm positions ClearyX as a strategic hedge against AI disruption of traditional legal services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ClearyX: Alternative legal and business services provider owned by Cleary Gottlieb, offering AI-powered contract insights and due diligence platforms including CX+Insights and CX+Transact.
• Cleary AI and Technology Insights Blog
• Cleary Antitrust Watch Blog
• Cleary Cybersecurity and Privacy Watch Blog
• Cleary Enforcement Watch Blog
• Cleary FinTech Update Blog
• Cleary Foreign Investment and International Trade Watch Blog
• Cleary M&A and Corporate Watch Blog
• Cleary Securities, Disclosure, and Governance Watch Blog

Products and services

• Corporate and Transactional Legal Advisory

Quantifiable outcome

• 40-60% cost and time savings on due diligence using ClearyX AI platform
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

AI capability8 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Legora Portal Design PartnershipcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 November 2025Cleary Gottlieb is one of twelve major law firms participating in Legora's design partnership for Legora Portal, an AI-powered collaboration platform transforming law firm-client workflows with centralized workspaces and AI-driven document analysis.
• Lighthouse GlobalcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2024Cleary Gottlieb co-developed an AI workflow tool with Lighthouse Global to efficiently handle FTC HSR second requests, which was recognized at FT Innovative Lawyers Awards Europe 2024. The firm won a Lighthouse Luminary Award in 2026 for AI-assisted privilege log generation.
• LegoracoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2024Cleary Gottlieb rolled out Legora software firmwide for specialized practice areas. The firm also participated in Legora's design partnership for Legora Portal, an AI-powered collaboration platform for law firm-client workflows.
• Stanford Law School (liftlab)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Stanford Law School's liftlab initiative focuses on transforming legal services through AI research and prototyping. Cleary Gottlieb is mentioned as acquiring a legal AI company for internal tools as part of industry collaboration.
• Springbok AIcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2023Cleary Gottlieb acquired Springbok AI in early 2023, adding 10 data scientists and engineers to develop internal legal AI tools. This acquisition strengthened the firm's proprietary AI capabilities.
• Litera FoundationcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2020Cleary Gottlieb implemented Litera Foundation's knowledge management platform in 2020 across five practice areas, establishing a system that tracks data quality, produces Health Reports for firm leadership, and enables evidence-based performance measurement. The technology created a virtuous cycle where initial wins drove expansion across global operations.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom: Skadden is a global BigLaw firm that competes directly with Cleary on M&A, capital markets, litigation, and restructuring mandates for large corporates and financial institutions.
• Davis Polk & Wardwell: Davis Polk is a premier New York-headquartered law firm competing head-to-head with Cleary on M&A, securities, finance, and antitrust matters for the largest financial institutions and multinationals globally.
• Kirkland & Ellis: Kirkland & Ellis is the world's largest law firm by revenue and a primary competitor to Cleary in private equity, M&A, and antitrust, recently gaining Cleary's antitrust partners in Brussels and London.
• Linklaters: Linklaters is a Magic Circle firm competing with Cleary on cross-border M&A, capital markets, banking, and restructuring for global corporates and financial institutions.
• Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz: Wachtell is a New York-based M&A powerhouse that competes with Cleary on the largest US deals and contested transactions, with a similarly partner-led model and white-shoe client roster.
• Cravath, Swaine & Moore: Cravath is an elite New York law firm with overlapping M&A, capital markets, and litigation practices targeting the same Fortune 100 enterprise client base as Cleary Gottlieb.
• Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer: Freshfields is a leading Magic Circle firm with strong overlap to Cleary in cross-border M&A, antitrust, and capital markets, particularly across European and emerging market mandates.
• Sullivan & Cromwell: Sullivan & Cromwell is a leading New York-based global law firm with comparable cross-border M&A, capital markets, and litigation practices, serving many of the same sovereign, banking, and large corporate clients as Cleary Gottlieb.
• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett: Simpson Thacher is an elite New York law firm that competes with Cleary on high-end M&A, private equity, capital markets, and banking and finance matters for a similar marquee client base.
• Latham & Watkins: Latham & Watkins is one of the largest global law firms by revenue, with comparable M&A, capital markets, and litigation practices serving a similar enterprise and PE client base across the same geographies as Cleary Gottlieb.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/clearygottlieb
• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cleary-gottlieb-steen-&-hamilton-llp

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton