In May 2001, the law firms of Sidley & Austin and Brown & Wood merged to become Sidley Austin Brown & Wood, a significant legal power in the international arena. The two firms meld a 235-year combined legacy of service and legal innovation. The merger creates a firm of more than 1400 attorneys and combines the highly-rated and inventive capital markets practice of Brown & Wood with Sidley & Austin's full array of corporate, banking, regulatory, intellectual property and litigation capabilities.