Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz Explained
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz (known as Wachtell Lipton or Wachtell) is an American white-shoe law firm in New York City. While many peer law firms have grown and become international brands, Wachtell has only a single, Manhattan office. It is one of the smallest firms in the AmLaw 100, but has the highest per partner profits of any law firm and pays significantly above the "Cravath scale" market rate for associates.[2]
History
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 [3] The four named partners met at New York University School of Law where they were editors on the New York University Law Review together.[4] The firm rose to prominence on Wall Street when many brokers and investment bankers were launching small firms, but received little attention from established white-shoe law firms, such as Sullivan & Cromwell, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, and Cravath, Swaine & Moore.
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 mergers and acquisitions, Wachtell Lipton has represented blue-chip clients such as AT&T, Pfizer, and JP Morgan Chase.[5] It has had key roles in the resurrection of Chrysler in the 1970s, the acquisition of Getty Oil by Texaco, and the negotiation of the master development agreement for the World Trade Center after the September 11, 2001 attacks.[6] The firm is also known for its business litigation, and has represented clients in many of the precedent-setting Delaware corporate governance cases.[7]
The firm placed #41 on The American Lawyer's 2021 AmLaw 200 ranking. In the 2021 Global 200 survey, Wachtell Lipton Rosen Katz ranked as the 50th highest grossing law firm in the world.
In November 2023, amid a wave of alleged antisemitic incidents at elite U.S. law schools, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz was among a group of major law firms who sent a letter to top law school deans warning them that an escalation in incidents targeting Jewish students would have corporate hiring consequences. The letter said "We look to you to ensure your students who hope to join our firms after graduation are prepared to be an active part of workplace communities that have zero tolerance policies for any form of discrimination or harassment, much less the kind that has been taking place on some law school campuses."[8]
Notable alumni
- William T. Allen, of counsel — former Chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery; New York University School of Law professor
- Anthony J. Casey, associate — University of Chicago Law School professor
- James Cole, partner — Acting Deputy Secretary of Education
- Allison Christians, associate — H. Heward Stikeman chair in Taxation, McGill University Faculty of Law
- George T. Conway III, associate and partner — lawyer for Paula Jones in sexual harassment lawsuit against President Bill Clinton, founder of The Lincoln Project, husband of Kellyanne Conway
- Miguel Estrada — attorney and former judicial nominee
- Glenn Greenwald, associate — political activist, journalist, and Pulitzer Prize recipient[9]
- Maura R. Grossman, of counsel — research professor and former director of Women in Computer Science at the University of Waterloo; electronic discovery attorney[10]
- Elizabeth Holtzman, associate — former U.S. Representative and Brooklyn District Attorney
- Robert J. Jackson Jr., associate — Commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
- David Lat, associate — blogger, Underneath Their Robes and Above the Law
- Kenneth K. Lee, associate — judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit[11]
- Matt Levine, associate — attorney, investment banker, and writer[12]
- Robert T. Miller, associate — University of Iowa College of Law professor
- Robert Morgenthau, of counsel — former New York County District Attorney[13]
- Bernard Nussbaum, partner — former White House Counsel to President Bill Clinton
- George Postolos, associate — former president and CEO of Houston Rockets
- Samuel Rascoff, associate — New York University School of Law professor
- Jed Rubenfeld, associate — Yale Law School professor
- Andrew Schlafly, associate — founder of Conservapedia, General Counsel for Association of American Physicians and Surgeons[14]
- Richard J. Sullivan, associate — judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit[15]
- Leo E. Strine Jr., of counsel – former Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court, Chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery; University of Pennsylvania Law School professor
- Sheena Wright, associate – former CEO of United Way of New York City, Deputy Mayor of New York City under Eric Adams
See also
Notes and References
- Web site: Wachtell Lipton . Law.com.
- Web site: The 2018 Am Law 100 Ranked by: Profits Per Equity Partner. April 24, 2018. Law.com. The American Lawyer. August 5, 2018.
- Book: Cole, Brett . 2008 . Godfathers—Flom and Lipton . M&A Titans: The Pioneers Who Shaped Wall Street's Mergers and Acquisitions Industry . Wiley . 9780470126899 .
- Web site: Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz NYU School of Law. www.law.nyu.edu. 2019-10-21.
- http://www.wlrk.com/Corporate/ Summary of corporate practice
- Web site: Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz Company Profile Vault.com. Vault. en. 2019-10-21.
- See, e.g., Moran v. Household Int'l, Inc., 500 A.2d 1346 (Del. 1985); Paramount Commc'ns, Inc. v. Time Inc., 571 A.2d 1140 (Del. 1989); Air Prods. & Chemicals, Inc. v. Airgas, Inc., 16 A.3d 48 (Del. Ch. 2011).
- News: Sorkin . Andrew Ross . Mattu . Ravi . Warner . Bernhard . Kessler . Sarah . Merced . Michael J. de la . Hirsch . Lauren . Livni . Ephrat . Law Firms Warn Universities About Antisemitism on Campus . 2 November 2023 . The New York Times . 2 November 2023.
- NPR (2014). https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/04/14/303002434/pulitzer-prizes-are-out-washington-post-the-guardian-win-for-nsa-stories. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
- American Lawyer (2016). The Wachtell Way of EDiscovery. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
- Web site: Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees. Lee. Kenneth K.. 2019.
- News: 2021-03-08. Libor Is Going Away for Real. Bloomberg.com. 2021-03-08. Matt Levine. I worked at one of the last remaining unlimited-liability partnerships in the biglaw business..
- New York Times (2010). Dealbook - Wachtell’s Newest Hire: 90-Year-Old Morgenthau. Retrieved May 11, 2010.
- Web site: Chen. Vivia. Shhh! Pro Bono's Not Just for Liberals Anymore. The American Lawyer. October 31, 2010. July 9, 2007.
- Web site: Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees. Sullivan. Richard J.. 2018.
