Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates

Headquarters	Condé Nast Building New York City United States[1]
No. of offices	23
No. of attorneys	1,886 [2]
No. of employees	4,500 (estimate)
Major practice areas	Mergers and acquisitions, litigation and arbitration, corporate finance, corporate restructuring, securities law, banking, project finance, energy and infrastructure, antitrust, tax and intellectual property, among others[3]
Key people	Eric J. Friedman[4] Executive partner Earle Yaffa[5] Managing director
Revenue	US$ 2.17 billion (2011)[6]
Date founded	April 1, 1948
Founder	Marshall Skadden, John Slate, and Les Arps
Company type	Limited liability partnership
Website
www.skadden.com

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates (often shortened to Skadden Arps; Skadden; or SASM&F), founded in 1948, is a law firm based in New York City. With nearly 2,000 attorneys, it is one of the highest-grossing law firms in the world.^[7] Forbes magazine called Skadden "Wall Street's most powerful law firm," and the firm has been named as America's best Corporate Law firm every year since 2001.^[8][9]

Timeline

• 1948 — The firm was founded in New York by Marshall Skadden, John Slate and Les Arps.
• 1954 — Joseph Flom became a partner.
• 1959 — William Meagher joined the firm. Elizabeth Head, the firm's first female attorney, was hired.
• 1961 — The firm's name became Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
• 1973 — The firm opened its Boston office, the firm's second.
• 1981 — Peggy Kerr became the first female partner.
• 1985 — Skadden became one of the U.S.'s three largest law firms.
• 1987 — The firm opened its first international office in Tokyo.
• 1988 — The firm founded the Skadden Fellowship Foundation.
• 2000 — New York City headquarters moved to Four Times Square, also called the Condé Nast Building.
• 2011 — Joseph Flom, the last living name partner, dies.

Locations

As of April 2014, Skadden has 23 offices worldwide.^[10]

Key people

As of February 2011, there are 432 partners at Skadden.^[11] As of 2015, there are 326 US partners.^[12] Unlike some firms that have introduced two-tier partnerships with equity and non-equity partners, Skadden maintains a one-tier partnership, in which all partners are equity partners and share ownership of the firm.^[13] Among the more notable partners and Counsel are:

• Greg Craig, former White House Counsel to President Barack Obama, heads the firm's global policy and litigation strategy group.
• Judith Kaye, former Chief Judge of the State of New York, is of counsel, and in March 2010 was tapped to lead the investigation of New York Governor David Paterson.
• Bruce Buck, chairman of Chelsea Football Club, partner in charge of firm's European offices.^[14]
• Stephen C. Robinson, former federal district court judge sitting in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and former United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.^[15]
• Patrick Fitzgerald, former United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois who was, as special counsel for the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Special Counsel, the federal prosecutor in charge of the investigation of the Valerie Plame Affair.^[16]
• Fred T. Goldberg, Jr., Commissioner of Internal Revenue from 1989–92, Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy in the United States Department of the Treasury in 1992.^[17]
• Cyrus Amir-Mokri, former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Institutions of the U.S. Treasury Department.^[18]

Rankings

Skadden's world headquarters in the Condé Nast Building

In 2014, Skadden was the fourth largest law firm in the U.S. by revenue;^[19] in 2010 it was the second-largest in the world by revenue.^[7][20] Skadden had about 1,886^[2] attorneys in 23 offices in 2011.^[21] The total number of employees at the firm is nearly 4,200. Measured by the number of attorneys, Skadden is the second-largest law firm in the state of New York, the sixth largest in the United States.^[2] In 2010, the National Law Journal ranked Skadden 4th in its list of the 250 largest law firms in the United States. In 1995, Forbes's Largest Private Companies ranked Skadden as 335th^[22] on the list of the largest private U.S. companies by revenue. By 2003 Skadden had risen to 194th^[23] before falling back to 213th^[24] in 2010.

According to a branche-internal survey by Vault.com in 2015, Skadden is the third most prestigious law firm to work for in the United States,^[25] and according to the advisory firm FTI Consulting, Skadden has been named as the America's best Corporate Law firm in 2013 (a position held since 2001).^[8]

Other work

Skadden Fellowship Foundation

Through the Skadden Fellowship Foundation, the firm sponsors law school graduates who wish to practice public interest law. The foundation was established in 1988 at the time of the firm's 40th anniversary. The Los Angeles Times has called the program "a legal Peace Corps."^[26] Fellows work with a sponsoring organization in the field of providing legal services to the poor, the elderly, the homeless, the disabled, and the disenfranchised. Skadden pays fellows a salary of $46,000 (as of 2006), plus all fringe benefits the sponsoring organization offers its employees. As of 2006, the firm has awarded 473 fellowships.^[26]

Political contributions

Skadden partners and employees tend to support and contribute more to Democratic political candidates than to Republicans.^[27]

Prominent lawyers at the firm endorsed and financially supported John Kerry in his campaign to become president of the United States in 2004.^[28][29]

In the run-up to Super Tuesday, 2008, Skadden hosted a phone bank in support of Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.^[30][31]

Notable alumni

In addition to numerous professors and partners, both at Skadden and other firms, some of the more notable former Skadden attorneys include:

• Preeta D. Bansal, former General Counsel for the federal Office of Management and Budget; former Solicitor General of the State of New York
• Amelia Boone, obstacle racer, 2012 Spartan Race World Champion and three-time World's Toughest Mudder champion
• George B. Daniels, judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (2000–)
• Mark Filip, former Acting Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General of the United States; former judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
• Greg Giraldo, international comedian
• Irving S. Shapiro, former CEO, DuPont
• Eliot Spitzer, former Governor of New York,^[32] and his ex-wife, Silda Wall Spitzer^[33]
• Leo Strine, Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court (2014–present); previously Chancellor (2011–2014) and Vice-Chancellor (1998–2011) of the Delaware Court of Chancery
• Laura Ingraham, conservative talk radio host
• Chad S. Johnson, former President of the Stonewall Democrats
• Faryar Shirzad, Managing Director and Global Head of Government Affairs at Goldman Sachs
• Keith Gottfried, General Counsel for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (2005–)
• John Feerick, former Dean of Fordham University School of Law
• Robert Del Tufo, former New Jersey Attorney General
• Douglas Rediker, U.S. Alternate Executive Director, International Monetary Fund (2010–)
• Mary L. Smith, current official, United States Department of Justice Civil Division; former nominee, Assistant Attorney General, United States Department of Justice Tax Division
• Robert W. Sweet, judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (1978–, senior status 1991–)
• William H. Timbers, former judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (1971–1981, senior status 1981–1994); Chief Judge (1964–1971), judge (1960–1971), United States District Court for the District of Connecticut
• Richard Albert, Comparative constitutional law professor ^[34]
• Harold M. Williams, former Securities and Exchange Commission Chair (1977 – 1981)
• Chip Flowers, first African-American elected official in Delaware (State Treasurer) & Co-Chair, National Democratic State Treasurers (2010-2014)^[35]

References

1. "Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, LLP". Lawyer.com. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
2. "ILRG Largest 250 Law Firms in the US". Ilrg.com. Retrieved 2011-12-03.
3. "Practices - Skadden, Arps". Skadden.com. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
4. "Eric J. Friedman – Skadden". Skadden.com.
5. "Earle Yaffa – Skadden". Skadden.com.
6. "Skadden, Cleary, Simpson and Davis Polk see revenues rise in 2011". Law.com. Retrieved 2012-03-19.
7. "The Am Law Global 100" from The American Lawyer 2011 (free registration required)
8. "America’s Top Corporate Law Firms for 2013". FTI Consulting. 2013-05-14. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
9. Fisher, Daniel. "Wall Street's Most Powerful Law Firm". Forbes. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
10. "Offices". Skadden. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
11. Skadden > Attorneys Archived February 3, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
12. "Skadden". Chambers Partners. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
13. "How Skadden Does It", Andrew Longstreth, The American Lawyer, May 2006
14. "Professionals - Skadden, Arps". Skadden.com. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
15. "Professionals - Skadden, Arps". Skadden.com. Retrieved 2015-05-01.
16. "Professionals - Skadden, Arps". Skadden.com. Retrieved 2015-05-01.
17. "Professionals - Skadden, Arps". Skadden.com. Retrieved 2015-11-16.
18. "Professionals - Skadden, Arps". Skadden.com. Retrieved 2015-10-30.
19. Jones, Ashby (27 April 2015). "Latham & Watkins Tops the AmLaw 100 For the First Time". WSJ Law Blog. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
20. "The Global 100 2010: The World's Highest Grossing Law Firms". The American Lawyer. Incisive Media US Properties, LLC. Retrieved 2012-02-03.
21. "Offices - Skadden, Arps". Skadden.com. Retrieved 2011-12-04.
22. Forbes Largest Private Companies 1996 Archived December 10, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
23. Forbes Largest Private Companies 2003 Archived December 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
24. "#213 Skadden, Arps". Forbes. November 3, 2010.
25. "Vault Law 100". Vault.com. Retrieved 2014-06-23.
26. Skadden Fellowship Foundation: About the Foundation Archived October 10, 2006, at the Wayback Machine.
27. "Fundrace 2008 Campaign Donations, Huffington Post
28. "The New Fat Cats" from Business Week Online April 12, 2004
29. "Business leaders for Kerry" from St. Petersburg Times August 5, 2004
30. "Barack Obama : : Change We Can Believe In | Event | Times Square Phone Bank". My.barackobama.com. 2013-01-01. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
31. "Barack Obama : : Change We Can Believe In | Event | Times Square Phone Bank - LAST PUSH". Newyork.barackobama.com. 2013-01-01. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
32. "Eliot Spitzer biography from official New York State government web site". Ny.gov. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
33. "Silda Wall Spitzer biography from official New York State government web site". Ny.gov. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
34. http://www.richardalbert.com
35. http://www.chipflowers.com; http://www.flowerscounselgroup.com/index.php?page=the-honorable-chipman-flowers-jr-esq

Further reading

• Caplan, Lincoln (1993). Skadden: Power, Money, and the Rise of a Legal Empire. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux. ISBN 0-374-26566-6.
• "How Skadden Does It", Andrew Longstreth, The American Lawyer, May 2006.

External links

• Official website
• Skadden Fellowship Foundation
• Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom companies grouped at OpenCorporates