Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is an American
law firm in
New York City, considered to be the top firm in the United States for major
mergers and acquisitions.[2] 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.[3] The firm pays its partners through a
lockstep system, meaning that compensation is tied to firm seniority, rather than hours billed or business brought in.[4] The same is true for associate bonuses. This compensation model has led to the firm being called the "last true partnership."[4]
One of the founding partners,
Martin Lipton, invented the so-called "
poison pill defense" during the 1980s, to foil
hostile takeovers.[5] Working both sides of mergers and acquisitions, Wachtell Lipton has represented blue-chip clients such as
AT&T,
Pfizer, and
JP Morgan Chase.[7] 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.[2] The firm is also known for its business
litigation, and has represented clients in many of the precedent-setting
Delaware corporate governance cases.[8]
The firm placed #41 on The American Lawyer's 2021 AmLaw 200 ranking. On the 2021 Global 200 survey, Wachtell Lipton Rosen Katz ranked as the 50th highest grossing law firm in the world.[1]
In November 2023, amid a wave of
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."[9]
1989 — Name partner George Katz passes away at 57.[16]
2000s — The firm represents the leaseholder of the World Trade Center in trials with its property insurers to secure the funds to rebuild the site after the
September 11 attacks.[16]
2018 — The firm nabs the top spot among law firms in the United States in profits per partner with a 2018 PPP of $6,530,000.[18]
2019 — The firm secures the top spot as legal adviser for global
mergers and acquisitions, based on dollar value, with a combined $585.3 billion in transactions.[19]
2022 — The firm represents
Twitter in successfully forcing the completion of a $44 billion dollar takeover by
Elon Musk.[20]
2023 — The firm is hired by billionaire Indian industrialist
Gautam Adani to represent his business empire against claims made by investment research firm
Hindenburg Research regarding allegations of
short-selling, accounting fraud, and stock market manipulation on behalf of
Adani Group.[21] In July 2023, Musk's X-Corp sued Wachtell over the $90M it made in the Twitter deal.[22]
^Sorkin, Andrew Ross; Mattu, Ravi; Warner, Bernhard; Kessler, Sarah; Merced, Michael J. de la; Hirsch, Lauren; Livni, Ephrat (2 November 2023).
"Law Firms Warn Universities About Antisemitism on Campus". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
^Matt Levine (2021-03-08).
"Libor Is Going Away for Real". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2021-03-08. I worked at one of the last remaining unlimited-liability partnerships in the biglaw business.