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Headquarters | 1 Manhattan West New York City United States [1] |
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No. of offices | 22 |
No. of attorneys | Approximately 1,700 [2] |
No. of employees | 3,500 (estimate, including partners) |
Major practice areas | Transactions, litigation/controversy and regulatory [3] |
Key people | Eric J. Friedman (executive partner) [4] Claudia I. Joyce (executive director/strategy) [5] Noah J. Puntus (executive director/CFO) [6] |
Revenue | US$ 2.41 billion (2015) [7] |
Date founded | April 1, 1948 |
Founder | Marshall Skadden John Slate Les Arps |
Company type | Limited liability partnership |
Website | skadden |
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates is an American multinational law firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1948, the firm consistently ranks among the top U.S. law firms by revenue.
The firm was founded in 1948 in New York by Marshall Skadden, John Slate and Les Arps. [8] In 1959 William Meagher joined the firm and Elizabeth Head, the firm's first female attorney, was hired. In 1960 the firm's name became Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. [8] In 1961 Peter Mullen, who later served as Skadden's first executive partner, joined the firm. [9]
In 1973 the firm opened its second office, in Boston. [8] In 1981 Peggy L. Kerr became Skadden's first female partner. [10] In 1985 Skadden was ranked as one of the three largest law firms in the United States. [8]
In 1987 The firm opened its first international office, in Tokyo. [8] In 1988 the Skadden Fellowship Foundation was created. Skadden's New York City headquarters moved to 4 Times Square, the "Condé Nast Building." in 2000. [8] Together with the City College of New York, Skadden launched the Skadden, Arps Honors Program in 2008, with the goal of increasing diversity in law schools and the legal profession. [11]
In 2012 Skadden took as a client Viktor F. Yanukovych, who served as president of Ukraine from 2010 to 2014. One of their actions on his behalf was to produce a report justifying Yanukovych's imprisonment of former prime minister Yulia V. Tymoshenko and denying that the action had been a political prosecution, although many Western countries characterized it as such. Later that year a team of American lawyers commissioned by the government of Ukraine concluded that Tymoshenko's trial had not been fair and her rights had been violated. [12] After Yanukovych's downfall, Skadden's work on his behalf led to several federal investigations. One Skadden attorney, Alex van der Zwaan, was convicted of lying to the FBI about his work on Yanukovych's behalf and served 30 days in jail. [13] Tymoshenko made plans to sue Skadden, and in May 2020 it was revealed that Skadden had paid at least $11 million to settle the case before a lawsuit could be filed. [14]
Skadden, along with Mercury Public Affairs and the Podesta Group, was investigated by the U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) for possible lobbying violations regarding former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. [15] In May 2020 Skadden paid a $4.6 million settlement to the Department of Justice over the firm's failure to register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agent Registrations Act. [16]
As of December 2016 [update] , Skadden has 22 offices worldwide. [17] It plans to move its Manhattan headquarters from 4 Times Square to the Manhattan West complex near Hudson Yards. [18]
In February 2011, there were 432 Skadden partners worldwide. [19] As of December 2016, there were 381 partners worldwide. 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. [20] In January 2020, there were 349 partners worldwide. [21]
Notable partners include:
In 2015 and 2016, Skadden was the fourth largest law firm in the U.S. by revenue. In the 2015 Global 100 survey by The American Lawyer, Skadden ranked as the fourth-highest grossing law firm in the world. [29] In 2016, Skadden had approximately 1,700 attorneys in 22 offices; [29] in 2011, the firm had approximately 1,900 attorneys in 23 offices. [30] Measured by the number of attorneys, Skadden is the fifth largest law firm in New York and 12th largest in the United States. [29] [31] In 2016, Skadden was 187th on Forbes' list of America's Largest Private Companies by revenue. [32] Previously, the firm ranked 335th [33] in 1995, 194th [34] in 2003 and 213th in 2010. [35] In 2015, Skadden became the first law firm ever to handle more than $1 trillion in M&A deals in a single year [36] [37] and, for the third time in six years, the Financial Times' "Innovative Lawyers" report named Skadden the most innovative law firm in North America. [38] [39]
Through the Skadden Fellowship Foundation, the firm sponsors law school graduates who wish to practice public interest law. The foundation was established in 1988 in honor of the firm's 40th anniversary. The Los Angeles Times has called the program "a legal Peace Corps." [40] Fellows work with a sponsoring organization that provides legal services to the poor, elderly, homeless, disabled and disenfranchised. Skadden pays fellows a salary of $52,000 (as of 2016), [41] plus all the fringe benefits the sponsoring organization offers its employees. Through 2016, the firm has awarded 791 fellowships. [42] Since the program's inception, nearly 90 percent of its fellows have remained in public interest or public sector work. [43]
Skadden partners and employees tend to support and contribute more to Democratic political candidates than to Republicans. [44] Prominent lawyers at the firm endorsed and financially supported John Kerry in his campaign to become president of the United States in 2004. [45] [46] In the run-up to Super Tuesday 2008, Skadden hosted a phone bank in support of Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. [47] [48]
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Skadden was one of the top law firms contributing to federal candidates during the 2012 election cycle, donating $1.98 million, 76% to Democrats. [49] From 1990 through 2008, Skadden contributed $11.93 million to federal campaigns; between 2000 and 2008 the firm spent $2.2 million on lobbying. [50]
In addition to numerous professors and partners at other firms, some of the more notable former Skadden attorneys include:
Robert S. Bennett is an American attorney and Senior Counsel to Bennett LoCicero & Liu LLP. He is best known for representing President Bill Clinton during the Lewinsky scandal.
Bruce Mackie Buck is an American lawyer and founding managing partner of the London office of law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. He is also Chairman of Chelsea Football Club. His practice areas are European mergers and acquisitions, project finance and capital markets.
Dewey Ballantine LLP was a corporate law firm headquartered in New York City. In 2007, Dewey Ballantine merged with LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae to form Dewey & LeBoeuf. Dewey Ballantine underwent numerous name changes throughout its history as partners left to serve in government positions or form new firms.
William R. Meagher (1903–1981) was a senior partner with the New York law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, one of the largest and highest-grossing law firms in the world. Meagher, a trial and appellate lawyer, served as senior partner from 1968 until 1974, and continued working with the firm until his death in 1981. Meagher was graduate of Fordham University.
Clifford Sloan is an attorney and American diplomat who served as Special Envoy for Guantanamo Closure at the United States Department of State. Sloan is currently a Dean's Visiting Scholar at Georgetown University Law Center and retired partner for Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates. Previously, Sloan was the publisher of Slate magazine.
Preeta D. Bansal is an American lawyer who served as the General Counsel and Senior Policy Advisor to the federal Office of Management and Budget from 2009 until 2011. Prior to her work in the Obama administration, she served as a law partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and as the Solicitor General of the State of New York during Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's first term. She also has been a member and past chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). She is currently a lecturer at MIT and senior advisor at the Laboratory for Social Machines based at the MIT Media Lab.
Michael E. Leiter was the director of the United States National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), having served in the Bush Administration and been retained in the Obama Administration. A statement released by the White House announced his resignation, effective July 8, 2011. His successor, Matthew G. Olsen, was sworn in on August 16, 2011. In September 2017, Leiter joined international law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in Washington, D.C. as a partner in its national security practice.
Gregory Bestor Craig is an American lawyer and former White House Counsel, under President Barack Obama, from 2009 to 2010. A former attorney at the Washington, D.C. law firm of Williams & Connolly, Craig has represented numerous high-profile clients. Prior to becoming White House Counsel, he served as assistant to the President and special counsel in the White House of President Bill Clinton, where he directed the team defending Clinton against impeachment. Craig also served as a senior advisor to Senator Edward Kennedy and to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
Robert J. Del Tufo was the Attorney General of New Jersey from 1990 to 1993.
Stephen Craig Robinson is a former United States District Judge who served on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York from 2003 to 2010.
Handel Lee is a Shanghai attorney and property developer well known for transforming historic landmarks into upscale developments. He also currently is a senior partner at the law firm King & Wood Mallesons. Lee is well known for his high-end developments, including Beijing Legation Quarter and The Bund in Shanghai. Ron Gluckman recognized him as China's "Style Setter" for his support of the arts.
Joseph Harold "Joe" Flom was an American lawyer and pioneer of mergers and acquisitions, specializing in representing companies in takeover battles. By the 1980s, he had acquired a reputation of being "Mr. Takeover". Flom became a partner at what is now known as Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in 1954, and helped transform it from a four-lawyer firm into one of the largest law firms in the United States. In 1999, The American Lawyer named him one of their "Lawyers of the Century".
Boris Bershteyn is an Obama administration official who until June 2013 had served as acting Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. He previously served from 2011 to 2012 as general counsel for the federal Office of Management and Budget. Prior to his work at the Office of Management and Budget, he served as an Associate White House Counsel.
David McFarlane is an American and Canadian lawyer practicing and living in Los Angeles, California. He is currently a Partner with the international law firm Crowell & Moring in the firm's Los Angeles office. A specialist in health care reform law, Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and employee benefits in the U.S., McFarlane also worked as a pension and benefits attorney in Ontario, Canada, having written a two-volume book on Ontario pension law. He also co-authored a book on Canadian Unemployment Insurance law. He is also a judge pro tem of the Superior Court of California, Los Angeles County.
Michele A. Roberts is the executive director of the National Basketball Players Association. She is the first woman to hold that position and the first woman to head a major professional sports union in North America. Previously she was an attorney with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
Jessie Kong Liu is an American attorney who was the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. She previously worked as deputy general counsel at the U.S. Treasury and served at the Justice Department. In 2020, she joined the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom as a partner.
Michael Yale Scudder Jr. is a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Previously, he was a partner in the Chicago office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
Alex Rolf van der Zwaan is a Belgian-born Dutch attorney formerly with the London branch of New York-based international law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
Mark N. Kaplan is an American lawyer and business executive who is the former CEO of Drexel Burnham Lambert and senior partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates.
John Hampton Slate was an American aviation lawyer and founding partner of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom.