Goldfarb Seligman & Co.

Goldfarb Seligman & Co., one of Israel’s largest law firms, is among the elite group of firms that deliver top-tier legal services at international standards. The professional hallmark of the firm, which traces its history back over 80 years, is the unrelenting pursuit of the highest professional and ethical standards in the service of its clients. The attorneys’ deep understanding and keen insight into the Israeli business sector provide a strong basis for the firm’s multidisciplinary approach. The pillars of the firm’s guiding principles are legal excellence, dedication to clients, business insight, ethical behavior, professional creativity, and innovation. Among the firm’s alumni are two of Israel’s most prominent Supreme Court Justices, the Honorable Yoel Zusman, and the Honorable Alfred Vitkon. The firm is headed by Adv. Yudi Levy, Co-Chairman and Managing Partner of the firm.

The firm recruits and employs leading attorneys in each of its practice areas. This human capital, along with the firm’s commitment to quality, excellence, and integrity, are what make it the firm of choice for the most discerning clients, both in Israel and overseas. The firm employs more than 300 attorneys, including over 100 partners, who offer clients a wide spectrum of legal services. The firm focuses on four core practice areas: corporate and capital markets in Israel and overseas; litigation of all types; real estate, planning and construction of all descriptions; and taxation in Israel and internationally. The firm also offers highly specialized practices in industry; labor law; antitrust and competition; infrastructure; regulation; intellectual property and privacy; energy; finance; banking; insurance; environmental law; and more. Goldfarb Seligman has consistently been ranked among the leading law firms in Israel in various practice areas by international and local ratings such as Chambers, The Legal 500, IFLR1000, BDICode, Dun’s 100 and others.

Practice Areas

Capital Markets and Public Offerings - Goldfarb Seligman has Israel’s leading capital markets and public offerings practice. The firm advises on public offerings in the Israeli and in foreign capital markets, provides ongoing securities law advice to dozens of public companies and represents issuers and underwriters in Israel, the U.S., Europe, and Australia. The firm works closely with foreign underwriters and investment banks and has unparalleled expertise in complex financial transactions, and in the representation of clients before various securities authorities and stock exchanges. In addition, the firm’s vast experience in U.S. securities law enables the attorneys to match Israeli law requirements to U.S. law requirements, or those of other foreign legal jurisdictions.

Corporate and Commercial Law - The firm handles the largest and most complex cross-border corporate transactions involving Israeli entities. The firm’s attorneys apply knowledge from various disciplines of commercial law, as well as multidisciplinary experience acquired while working and studying outside of Israel. The firm’s attorneys act as counsel to companies concerning proper approval of major interested party transactions.

Mergers and Acquisitions - Goldfarb Seligman possesses extensive experience in M&A transactions involving public and private companies. In recent years, the firm has had the lead role in numerous international M&A transactions worth tens of billions of dollars. The firm represents leading Israeli companies in international transactions, as well as foreign clients in their Israeli acquisitions while providing integrated advice on various legal fields.

Commercial and Corporate Litigation; Dispute Resolution - The firm handles the most complex commercial and corporate litigation. The firm’s litigation department partners are among the leading trial lawyers in Israel and represent Israeli and international companies, as well as key businesspeople and senior officials from the public sector. The firm advises on a wide range of legal issues, among them complex commercial litigation; corporate litigation in public companies; class actions; international litigation and arbitration; antitrust litigation; internet litigation; real estate litigation; and more. In addition, the firm’s senior partners serve as mediators and arbitrators in complex business and personal disputes.

Real Estate, Planning and Construction - The firm has one of Israel’s leading real estate departments and handles the most significant transactions in the Israeli real estate sector and planning and construction field. It advises holding companies, leading real estate companies and developers on a broad variety of projects, and provides clients with comprehensive legal services in all stages of acquisition, bidding, planning, licensing, development, construction, and marketing, including handling related financing and tax issues.

Tax - Goldfarb Seligman’s Tax Department is one of Israel’s most prominent and experienced tax departments. The firm’s attorneys, based in our offices in Israel and our Zurich Branch, advise local and international clients on various tax matters, including the taxation of domestic and international transactions; M&As; property; and taxation; import, export and international trade law; VAT; and more. In addition, the firm specializes in all aspects of executive compensation, including handling all tax and securities issues and drafting sophisticated stock options and bonus plans.

Hi-Tech, Venture Capital and Technology Agreements - The firm has unique expertise in the hi-tech field and is involved in dozens of domestic and international venture capital transactions every year, representing both investors and companies. The firm advises young companies on financing and intellectual property; handles exits (IPOs, M&As); advises VC funds concerning capital raising; and possesses extensive experience regarding agreements for commercializing technologies, in both the hi-tech and the life sciences fields.

Industry - The firm possesses extensive experience in advising and representing Industrial corporations from all segments of the market, and our expert attorneys are familiar with the business environment and complex legal challenges these companies face. Our legal teams provide clients a broad range of high-quality legal services, encompassing all aspects of the client’s activity in Israel and abroad, tailored to the unique challenges faced by Industrial corporations.

Project and Infrastructure Financing - The firm handles a significant portion of the infrastructure projects in the Israeli market, particularly in the transportation and energy fields. The firm advises government agencies and private sector entities from the formation stages, through statutory and legislative proceedings, to expropriations, tenders, and financing.

Banking and Finance - The firm handles various domestic and international financing transactions, and advises on ongoing banking activity and activities in all financial services fields, such as securities, custody and brokerage, credit cards and financial derivatives. In recent years, the firm has advised on some of the most complex bank financing transactions in the Israeli market.

Antitrust and Competition - The firm specializes in providing ongoing legal counsel to clients regarding complex antitrust and competition matters, including litigation proceedings and administrative, civil and criminal enforcement. The firm regularly provides complex legal opinions on various competition aspects about a wide variety of matters, including monopolies, restrictive agreements, and mergers. In addition, the firm builds internal compliance programs tailored to the unique needs of each client.

Environmental Law and Sustainability - The firm’s attorneys counsel clients on environmental law requirements and advise on licensing and enforcement before the governmental authorities; represent clients in administrative, criminal and civil proceedings; assist in the drafting and implementation of internal enforcement programs; conduct due diligence; and represent financial institutions with respect to environmental risk management.

Regulation - The firm provides comprehensive legal-strategic counsel in the regulation field, advising various business groups and leading corporations operating in a wide variety of fields, including telecommunications and media, cybersecurity, infrastructure, healthcare, food, economic regulation and more. The firm provides both immediate counsels regarding isolated matters and advice on developing long-term regulatory strategies, based on the extensive knowledge and experience accumulated by the firm in this field.

Energy and Natural Resources - The firm provides comprehensive professional counsel integrating legal, professional and commercial aspects, from the early development stages of energy projects, throughout their construction and to financial closure and ongoing operation. In addition, the firm possesses extensive experience in complex tenders and advising on financing models and agreements tailored to the needs of the energy market, including PPA, EPC and O&M agreements. The firm advises developers and corporations regarding the establishment of natural gas power plants, renewable energy projects, natural gas distribution and consumption, and more.

Telecommunication and Communications - The firm advises various leading companies in the telecommunication, communications and broadcasting fields, concerning regulations, licensing, mergers and acquisitions, transfers of corporate control, commercial disputes and complex litigation proceedings, including class actions.

Labor Law and Relocation - The firm provides strategic advice to resolve complex human resource management issues, and advises organizations and individuals during reorganization processes, including employee recruitment and termination; collective bargaining; M&As; due diligence; and more. The firm also represents clients before labor courts and governmental authorities, as well as in alternative dispute resolution proceedings. In addition, the firm provides comprehensive legal counsel regarding immigration, visa and relocation matters.

White-Collar - The firm is one of the leaders in the white-collar defense field. The firm’s attorneys represent senior members of the business and public sectors in criminal cases involving matters such as securities, antitrust, taxation, money laundering and defense and national security offenses.

Insurance and Risk Management - The firm possesses professional experience in local and international insurance matters, advising Israel’s largest corporations. We specialize in advising on the quality and scope of comprehensive insurance plans, tailoring unique, innovative solutions for complex risks. In addition, we advise insurance companies in establishment, acquisition and investment agreements, claims, class actions and more. Our firm also possesses significant expertise in the Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) domain, providing counsel based on international best practices and methodologies for mapping the client’s exposures and the formation of infrastructure for monitoring, reporting and managing risks.

Libel - The firm has extensive expertise in this field. It represents media outlets and advertising agencies and provides ongoing pre-publication advice on investigative journalism pieces and advertising campaigns. The firm also handles public figures’ libel claims and the defense of media outlets in libel actions.

Intellectual Property - The firm handles litigation and diverse commercial issues relating to intellectual property, and represents clients in court proceedings and before the Patent Office in matters concerning copyright, patents, trademarks, trade secrets and more. The firm also provides evaluations, drafts licensing agreements, registers trademarks and advises on OEM license agreements, distribution agreements and VAR agreements.

Class Actions and Derivative Actions - The firm represents leading Israeli and multinational corporations in class actions on securities, antitrust, insurance, banking and consumer protection issues. Our expertise is based on representing hundreds of corporate defendants in class actions, enabling us to utilize creative tools to prevent the certification of claims as class actions and to resolve the disputes through alternative measures, reducing clients’ exposure to both financial and reputational damage. The firm also possesses expertise in the representation of clients in derivative actions and represents companies, shareholders, directors, and senior executives.

Administrative Law - The firm has extensive expertise in this field and represents clients before governmental authorities, administrative law courts and the High Court of Justice, including in matters relating to tenders, communications, and education.

Corporate Recovery and Insolvency - The firm handles liquidations, receiverships, creditors’ arrangements and reorganizations under bankruptcy protection. The firm’s attorneys have served as or represented, reorganization trustees, receivers and liquidators in some of the most complex proceedings in Israel. In addition, the firm provides ongoing counsel to corporations and individuals in corporate recovery and economic rehabilitation proceedings.