On the cusp of our forthcoming merger to become A&O Shearman, the firm takes great pride in congratulating the Shearman & Sterling Food Service Team for achieving certification as a Center for Excellence by FLIK Hospitality Group, one of the country's foremost corporate dining and hospitality providers. The certification reflects the outstanding work of the firm's food service and hospitality crew, whose talents and dedication made it possible to earn recognition as a "Best in Class" business.

As part of Compass Group, with its worldwide presence and global resources, our Food Service Team was also recently nominated as one of the top five New York City corporate "units" for its unique expertise and unsurpassed experience.

FLIK's Center for Excellence (CFE) is a widely respected industry assessment that requires meeting stringent criteria in food safety, employee engagement, guest satisfaction and innovation. The firm's café, conference center, lounges and practice-floor pantries were examined by independent auditors across a wide range of categories including Catering, Communication, Crisis Management, Data & Analytics, Guest Experience, Finance, HR, Look & Feel & Marketing, to Relationships with the populace, Safety & Sanitation, Station Standards, Sustainability, Technology and Wellness. The Shearman & Sterling Food Service Team led the firm's Senior Manager of Hospitality & Support Axel Rudolph and by Food Service General Manager Nicholas Mudge achieved a compliance score of 98 percent, well above threshold required for certification.

The exceptional work of the food service team builds on the transformation of Shearman & Sterling's New York City headquarters at 599 Lexington Avenue. The modernized space, completed in 2022 following a two-year renovation project, created a workplace that meets the needs of a growing and diverse talent base and a firm poised to become a uniquely global company named A&O Shearman. The 340,000-square-foot space features high-performance technologies, state-of-the-art workspaces, wellness amenities and in the wake of the FLIK award, an exceptional workplace for hospitality.