
ABOUT
Rita O’Neill is a partner in Sullivan & Cromwell’s Los Angeles office and serves as co-head of the Global Private Equity Group. She has a broad-based practice that includes advising clients on mergers and acquisitions and securities offerings, and providing general corporate advice on disclosure and governance. She has advised clients in a wide range of industries, including consumer and retail, financial services, healthcare and life sciences, industrials, semiconductors, telecommunications and transportation.
Rankings and Recognitions
- Named a “Top Women in Dealmaking” by The Deal for both M&A and Private Equity (2022-2023)
- Named among the most influential Women in Mid-Market M&A by Mergers & Acquisitions (2022)
- Named among the Daily Journal’s Top Women Lawyers (2017, 2022). The list recognizes women lawyers in California who are at the top of their practice.
- Recognized as the 2021 “Private Equity Lawyer of the Year” and the 2017 Rising Star – Corporate at Euromoney’s Americas Women in Business Law Awards.
- Recognized as a Rising Star by IFLR1000 (2014-2018)
- Named among Profiles in Diversity Journal’s 2017 Women Worth Watching
- Recognized by The Legal 500 United States in 2017 and 2014 for Private Equity Buyouts and in 2014 for Capital markets: equity offerings – advice to issuers and managers
- Recognized by the Los Angeles Business Journal in 2014 as one of the “Women Making a Difference” in Los Angeles
Professional Activities and Community Involvement
- Member of S&C’s Women’s Initiative Committee and co-founder and co-chair of WiMA, a network of senior women M&A dealmakers focused on business generation
- Vice chair of the ABA M&A committee and co-chair of the ABA Acquisition of Public Companies Subcommittee
- Active provider of pro bono legal services with a particular focus on education, foster youth and animal rights