George Calvin Kern Jr. (April 19, 1926 – November 27, 2012), a native of

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, was a leading New York corporate lawyer in the 1970s and 1980s.

Biography

Kern graduated with an A.B. from the School of Public and International Affairs (now

Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (formerly the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs) is a professional public policy school at Princeton University. The school provides an array of comprehensive course ...

) from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

in 1947 after completing a senior thesis titled "War Beyond the Law - The Efforts to Outlaw War from Versailles to Nurnberg." After graduating from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

in 1952,George C. Kern, Jr.
Kern joined

Sullivan & Cromwell Sullivan & Cromwell LLP is an American multinational law firm headquartered in New York City. Known as a white-shoe firm, Sullivan & Cromwell is recognized as a leader in business law, and is known for its impact on international affairs, such a ...

where he became a partner in 1960. Kern was widely viewed among the legal professional as a uniquely colorful figure who dabbled in all aspects of corporate law. When the

mergers & acquisitions Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

boom started in the 1970s, most established corporate law firms refused this sort of work and left it to upstarts such as

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom 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 company is known for its wor ...

and

Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is an American law firm in New York City. The firm is known for corporate law, regularly handling large and complex transactions. On both a profit per lawyer, and profit per equity partner basis, it is the most p ...

. Kern, alone among elite Wall Street corporate lawyers, understood that mergers would change the face of corporate America and relished the takeover battles of the day. Kern was widely viewed as one of the early leaders at the M&A bar together with

Joseph H. Flom Joseph Harold Flom (December 21, 1923 – February 23, 2011) was an American lawyer and pioneer of mergers and acquisitions, specializing in representing companies in takeover battles.Martin Lipton Martin Lipton (born June 22, 1931) is an American lawyer, a founding partner of the law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz specializing in advising on mergers and acquisitions and matters affecting corporate policy and strategy. From 1958–1 ...

. Kern retired from active practice in 1994.

References

External links

The New York Times — THE LAW; AT THE BAR

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kern, George 1926 births 2012 deaths Lawyers from Baltimore New York (state) lawyers Princeton University alumni Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom people Yale Law School alumni Sullivan & Cromwell partners 20th-century American lawyers