Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
 | |
| Headquarters |
CBS Building New York City, United States |
|---|---|
| No. of offices | 1 |
| No. of attorneys | 260 |
| Major practice areas | General practice |
| Revenue |
 (−0.9%) US$580 million (2010)[1] |
| Date founded | 1965 |
| Founder | Herbert Wachtell, Jerry Kern |
| Company type | General partnership |
| Website | |
|
www | |
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is a prominent law firm located in New York City. The firm was founded in 1965 by Herbert Wachtell and Jerry Kern, who were shortly afterwards joined by Martin Lipton, Leonard Rosen, and George Katz.[2][3] For many years, it has been the most profitable large law firm in the US on a per-partner basis according to the American Lawyer's annual AmLaw 100 Survey. The firm also ranks at the top of other various surveys, including the Vault.com Associates Survey, and was ranked as the Most Prestigious Law Firm to Work For by the AveryIndex.[4]
The firm rose to prominence during a time on Wall Street in which many brokers and investment bankers started their own small companies, but received little attention from established white-shoe law firms such as Sullivan & Cromwell, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, and Cravath, Swaine & Moore.[3]
The firm is known for its skill in mergers and acquisitions. One of the founding partners, Martin Lipton, invented the so-called "poison pill defense" during the 1980s to foil hostile takeovers. Working both sides of the mergers and acquisitions game, Wachtell Lipton has represented blue-chip clients like AT&T, Kraft, and JP Morgan Chase.
The firm is also known for its skill in business litigation. It has handled many of the precedent-setting Delaware corporate governance cases. One of their most recent clients was Larry Silverstein, owner of the two 110-story towers of the World Trade Center. Videos of another one of the founding partners, Herb Wachtell, arguing cases in the courtroom are shown in law school classes as examples of effective trial advocacy.
Famous alumni
- William T. Allen, of counsel — former Chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery; NYU Law School professor
- John C. Coates IV, partner — Harvard Law School professor
- Allison Christians, associate — H. Heward Stikeman chair in Taxation: McGill University Faculty of Law
- Miguel Estrada - attorney and former judicial nominee
- Chaim Fortgang, partner & former Head of the bankruptcy department - "involved in almost every headline bankruptcy of the [1990s] and beyond[5][6]
- Glenn Greenwald, associate - political columnist and blogger[7]
- Lauryn P. Gouldin, associate — currently Professor at Syracuse University College of Law
- Ed Herlihy, partner & co-chairman of the Executive Committee — lead lawyer in the Merrill Lynch merger with Bank of America
- Elizabeth Holtzman, associate — former U.S. Representative and Brooklyn District Attorney
- Janet Langford Kelly — General Counsel, ConocoPhillips
- David Lat, associate — blogger, Underneath Their Robes and Above the Law
- Robert Morgenthau, of counsel - former New York County District Attorney[8]
- Bernard Nussbaum, partner — former White House Counsel to President Bill Clinton
- Jason Oh, associate — UCLA Law School professor
- George Postolos, associate — former President and CEO of Houston Rockets
- Samuel Rascoff, associate —NYU Law School professor
- Jed Rubenfeld, associate — Yale Law School professor
- Andrew Schlafly, associate — founder of Conservapedia, General Counsel for Association of American Physicians and Surgeons[9]
- Peter Schuck — Yale Law School professor
- Ethan Yale — UVA Law School professor
See also
References
- ↑ http://www.law.com/jsp/tal/PubArticleTAL.jsp?id=1202514395169 AM Law 100 Gross Revenue
- ↑ The Scoop: Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
- 1 2 Cole, Brett (2008). "Godfathers—Flom and Lipton". M&A Titans: The Pioneers Who Shaped Wall Street's Mergers and Acquisitions Industry. Wiley. ISBN 9780470126899.
- ↑ 2007 Law Firm Rankings
- ↑ "The Sunbeam Boys: In Big Bankruptcy Battle It's Chaim Fortgang Vs. Harvey Millers". Retrieved April 17, 2008.
- ↑ "Wharton’s Inaugural Restructuring Conference" (PDF). Wharton’s Inaugural Restructuring Conference. p. 4. Retrieved April 17, 2008.
- ↑ Salon (2010). Glenn Greenwald. Retrieved May 11, 2010.
- ↑ New York Times (2010). Dealbook - Wachtell’s Newest Hire: 90-Year-Old Morgenthau. Retrieved May 11, 2010.
- ↑ Chen, Vivia (July 9, 2007). "Shhh! Pro Bono's Not Just for Liberals Anymore". The American Lawyer. Retrieved October 31, 2010.