Willkie Farr & Gallagher
 |
|
| Headquarters | AXA Equitable Center 787 Seventh Avenue New York, NY 10019 |
|---|---|
| No. of offices | 9 total, 6 international |
| No. of attorneys | 554 (2014) |
| Major practice areas | Antitrust, Asset Management, Business Restructuring, Commercial Litigation, Corporate M&A, Insurance, Intellectual Property, Private Equity, Real Estate, Securities Litigation, Tax |
| Key people | Steven J. Gartner, Co-Chairman;[1] Thomas M. Cerabino, Co-Chairman[2] |
| Revenue |  $640 million (2014)[3] |
| Date founded | 1888 |
| Company type | Limited liability partnership |
| Website | |
| www.willkie.com | |
Founded in 1888, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP is an international law firm with nine offices in six countries (including offices in New York, Washington, D.C., Houston, London, Paris, Rome, Milan, Frankfurt and Brussels). The firm has cultivated a strong corporate practice focused on investment funds, bankruptcy and intellectual property. The firm has approximately 600 lawyers and staff attorneys. Major clients include financial news company Bloomberg L.P.. Former Supreme Court Nominee Robert Bork began his career at Willkie,[4] and former New York Governor Mario Cuomo served as of counsel at the firm after leaving office in 1995.
Contents
History
The original firm was Wall Street stalwart Hornblower & Byrne which was founded by William B. Hornblower and James Byrne. Hornblower was a prominent ally of President Grover Cleveland and rose to serve as President of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York as well as sit as a judge on the New York Court of Appeals.
Early clients included: the New York Life Insurance Company; the New York Securities and Trust Company (later the New York Trust Company); The Rome, Watertown, Ogdensburg and Parsons Railroad; Grant & Ward, a brokerage firm partnership between Ex-President Ulysses S. Grant and Ferdinand Ward; the Otis Elevator Company; the United States Ship Building Company; and, Thomas A. Edison.
The firm hired its first woman associate, Mary MacDonagh, in 1939.[5]
In January 1940 Harold J. Gallagher, one of the most influential partners in the history of the firm,[6] extended an offer to Wendell Willkie to join the firm then known as Miller, Boston & Owen. This was several months before Willkie received the Republican nomination for President.[7] After losing the Presidential election to the incumbent FDR, Willkie joined the firm and became a partner in 1941.[8] The firm's name was changed a year later to Willkie, Owen, Otis, Bailly. Willkie later became F.D.R.'s personal envoy to many countries promoting the Lend-Lease program. He later wrote a book about his travels entitled One World, a plea for global cooperation and peacekeeping.
Major clients during this period included insurance companies such as: Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; New York Life; Equitable; Aetna; Connecticut General; John Hancock; and, Prudential for which the firm represented for a number of industry private placements.
Throughout the 1960s, Gallagher-lead Willkie was occupied with railroad reorganizations, setting the stage for the firm's emergence as a bankruptcy powerhouse. In 1968 the firm adopted its current name, Willkie Farr & Gallagher.
In 1977, Patricia S, Skigen became the firm's first female partner.[9]
The firm was long known for its representation of Major League Baseball. Former Willkie Farr partner Bowie Kuhn served as Commissioner of Baseball from 1969-1984. The firm represented Baseball in the famous Curt Flood free agency/antitrust case in the United States Supreme Court in 1970 and successfully litigated famous cases such as the Pine Tar Game in 1983 as well as, later in the 1980s, against Pete Rose regarding the highly publicized gambling case.
In 1993 Willkie suffered a precipitous drop in business when Shearson Lehman, who accounted for one-third of Willkie Farr billings, was sold to the Traveler's Companies. The firm consequently adopted a policy that no client would account for more than five percent of its business.
In 1994, corporate partner Nora Ann Wallace became the first female member of the Executive Committee.[10]
Today, the firm is known for its representation of sophisticated corporate and commercial clients in a variety of large and high-profile matters. In recent years, the firm's white collar compliance and enforcement practice has emerged as one of the most prominent in the country. Perhaps its best known practice group is its investment funds practice, which provides legal representation to a variety of registered, mutual and hedge funds. Willkie is recognized as being in 'Band 1' (the top ranking) on the national scale for its work for investment funds according to Chambers & Partners, the British legal publication.
Two partners have served as American Bar Association President: Charles A. Boston in 1930-1931 and Harold J. Gallagher in 1949-1950.[11]
Two associates, Felix Frankfurter and Charles Evans Hughes, have served as Justices of the US Supreme Court with Hughes serving as Chief Justice.[12]
Locations
-
AXA Center,
New York City -
1875 K Street,
Washington DC -
CityPoint,
London -
An der Welle,
Frankfurt
(Wolfgang Pehlemann)
Offices
The firm has offices in nine cities.
Alliance with Dickson Minto
In 2007, Willkie announced an alliance with Dickson Minto, a highly regarded boutique law firm with offices in London and Edinburgh that specializes in private equity, M&A and capital markets, in addition to being full-service in Scotland. It is envisioned that the two firms will work together to provide US and UK law advice in a variety of corporate transactions.
Practice
Practice Areas
Willkie Farr's significant practice areas include:[13]
|
|
|
Notable Mandates
|
|
Attorneys
The top represented law schools at Willkie Farr include New York University School of Law (the school representing the highest number of firm partners), Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, University of Pennsylvania Law School, Columbia Law School, Georgetown University Law Center and University of Virginia Law School.
Notable Partners
Some of the firm's notable current partners include:
- Barry Barbash - Served as the Director of the Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Investment Management from September 1993 until October 1998.
- Matthew Feldman - Served as Chief Legal Advisor to the Obama administration’s Task Force on the Auto Industry, which developed the overall strategy to restructure General Motors Corporation and Chrysler.
- Michael Schachter - Former Assistant US Attorney who prosecuted Martha Stewart for insider trading and obstruction of justice.
- Martin Weinstein – As an Assistant US Attorney, represented the United States in negotiations with countries including Syria, Switzerland, and the Baltic States regarding FCPA issues.
Notable Alumni
Academia
- Robert Bork - Professor, Yale Law School[14]
- Bennett Capers - Professor, Brooklyn Law School
- Danielle Citron - Professor, University of Maryland School of Law
- E. Donald Elliott - Professor, Yale Law School; General Counsel of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- Roberta Karmel –Professor & Co-Director, Center for the Study of International Business Law, Brooklyn Law School
- Jae-Min Lee- Professor, Hanyang University School of Law (Korea)
- Ruth Mason - Professor, University of Virginia School of Law
- Rafael Pardo - Professor, Emory University School of Law
- Pamela Samuelson - Professor & Director, Berkeley Center for Law & Technology; U.C. Berkeley School of Law
- Jeffrey A. Schoenblum – Professor, Vanderbilt Law School
- Andrew Simons, Vice Dean Emeritus, Acting Dean, St. Johns University School of Law
- Donald J. Weidner – Dean, Florida State University College of Law
Judiciary
- Shelley C. Chapman, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge, Southern District of New York
- Felix Frankfurter - Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court
- Marcy Friedman - New York State Supreme Court Judge, New York County
- William Hornblower - Judge, New York Court of Appeals; Supreme Court nominee; President of New York City Bar Association
- Charles Evans Hughes - Chief Justice, U.S. Supreme Court; U.S. Secretary of State; Governor of New York
- Chester J. Straub - Circuit Court Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- Elizabeth Stong - U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge, Eastern District of New York
- Patricia Anne Williams, Judge for the New York City Criminal Court of Bronx County, New York
Government Service
- Robert Bork - U.S. Solicitor General;
- E. Donald Elliott - General Counsel of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA);
- Robert E. Fabricant - General Counsel of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- Lindley Miller Garrison - U.S. Secretary of War during World War I
- David Goodfriend - Deputy Staff Secretary to President William J. Clinton
- Charles Evans Hughes - U.S. Secretary of State; Governor of New York;
- Craig Johnson - New York State Senator
- Roberta Karmel - Director of the Securities Exchange Commission,1983-1987
- Sean Patrick Maloney - United States Representative for New York's 18th District.
- Nathan Lewis Miller - 43rd Governor of New York
- Benito Romano - U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York; First Puerto Rican to hold the U.S. Attorney post
- Wendell Willkie - 1940 Presidential Candidate and author of One World
Miscellaneous
- Charles A. Boston – President, American Bar Association
- Harold J. Gallagher – President, American Bar Association
- Louis A. Craco - New York City Bar Association President
- Bowie Kuhn - Major League Baseball (MLB) Commissioner
- Joel Litvin - President of League Operations, National Basketball League (NBA)
- Paul Mecurio - Emmy Award winning Comedian, Writer on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart
- Rob McGlarry – Executive Vice President, MLB Network
- Susan Thomases - Personal counsel and informal adviser to Hillary Clinton
References
- ↑ Gartner's firm profile
- ↑ Cerabino's firm profile
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/robert-bork-dies/2012/12/19/id/468343
- ↑ http://www.willkie.com/about-us/firm-history
- ↑ http://www.willkie.com/about-us/firm-history
- ↑ Veteran Lawyer recalls Wilkie's '40 campaign, The Hawk Eye, Page 3, August 24, 1972
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://www.willkie.com/about-us/firm-history
- ↑ http://www.willkie.com/about-us/firm-history
- ↑ http://www.willkie.com/about-us/firm-history
- ↑ http://www.willkie.com/about-us/firm-history
- ↑ http://www.willkie.com/practices/practices.aspx
- ↑ http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/robert-bork-dies/2012/12/19/id/468343
