Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates is an American multinational law firm headquartered in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. Founded in 1948, the firm consistently ranks among the top U.S. law firms by revenue. The company is known for its work on company mergers and takeovers.

History

The firm was founded in 1948 in New York by Marshall Skadden,

John Slate John Hampton Slate (1913 – September 19, 1967) was an American aviation lawyer and founding partner of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom. Biography Slate was born in Wind Gap, Pennsylvania in 1913. His father was a civil engineer who worke ...

and Les Arps. In 1959

William Meagher 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.

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. In 1961 Peter Mullen, who later served as Skadden's first executive partner, joined the firm. In 1973 the firm opened its second office, in Boston. In 1981 Peggy L. Kerr became Skadden's first female partner. In 1985 Skadden was ranked as one of the three largest law firms in the United States. In 1987 the firm opened its first international office, in Tokyo. 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. 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. , Skadden has 21 offices worldwide.

Key people

In February 2011, there were 432 Skadden partners worldwide. 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."How Skadden Does It"
, Andrew Longstreth, ''The American Lawyer'', May 2006 In January 2020, there were 349 partners worldwide. Notable partners include: *

Stephen C. Robinson Stephen Craig Robinson (born 1957) is a former United States federal judge, United States District Judge who served on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York from 2003 to 2010. Early life and education Robinson was ...

, former federal district court judge sitting in the U.S. District Court for the SDNY; former

U.S. attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the

District of Connecticut The United States District Court for the District of Connecticut (in case citations, D. Conn.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Connecticut. The court has offices in Bridgeport, Hartford, and New Haven. Appeals ...

* Patrick B. Fitzgerald, former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; as

special counsel In the United States, a special counsel (formerly called special prosecutor or independent counsel) is a lawyer appointed to investigate, and potentially prosecute, a particular case of suspected wrongdoing for which a conflict of interest exi ...

for the Department of Justice, the federal prosecutor in charge of the investigation of the

Valerie Plame Affair The Plame affair (also known as the CIA leak scandal and Plamegate) was a political scandal that revolved around journalist Robert Novak's public identification of Valerie Plame as a covert Central Intelligence Agency officer in 2003. In 2002, ...

* Fred T. Goldberg, Jr.,

commissioner of Internal Revenue The Commissioner of Internal Revenue is the head of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), an agency within the United States Department of the Treasury. The office of Commissioner was created by Congress as part of the Revenue Act of 1862. Section ...

(1989–92), assistant secretary for tax policy in the Department of the Treasury in 1992 * Mark N. Kaplan, former CEO of Drexel Burnham Lambert and

Engelhard Engelhard Corporation was an American ''Fortune'' 500 company headquartered in Iselin, New Jersey, United States. It is credited with developing the first production catalytic converter. In 2006, the German chemical manufacturer BASF bough ...

Michael Leiter 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 resig ...

, former director of the

National Counterterrorism Center The National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) is a United States government organization responsible for national and international counterterrorism efforts. It is based in Liberty Crossing, a modern complex near Tysons Corner in McLean, Virginia ...

Rankings

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. In 2016, Skadden had approximately 1,700 attorneys in 22 offices; in 2011, the firm had approximately 1,900 attorneys in 23 offices. Measured by the number of attorneys, Skadden is the fifth largest law firm in New York and 12th largest in the United States. In 2016, Skadden was 187th on ''Forbes'' list of America's Largest Private Companies by revenue. Previously, the firm ranked 335th in 1995, 194th in 2003 and 213th in 2010. In 2015, Skadden became the first law firm ever to handle more than $1 trillion in M&A deals in a single year and, for the third time in six years, the ''Financial Times'' "Innovative Lawyers" report named Skadden the most innovative law firm in North America.

Other work

Russia and Ukraine

Skadden has a history of representing clients with ties to the

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

regime in Russia, such as Alfa Bank,

Roman Abramovich Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich (, ; he, רומן ארקדיביץ' אברמוביץ'; born 24 October 1966) is a Russian oligarch and politician. He is the former owner of Chelsea, a Premier League football club in London, England, and is the ...

, and Viktor F. Yanukovych's pro-Russian regime in Ukraine. In 2020, the firm paid a $4.6 million settlement for misleading U.S. authorities regarding its lobbying on behalf of a Russia-aligned Ukrainian government. In 2012, Skadden took as a client Viktor F. Yanukovych, who was a pro-Russian

president of Ukraine The president of Ukraine ( uk, Президент України, Prezydent Ukrainy) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, condu ...

from 2010 to 2014. Paul Manafort helped arrange for the hiring of Skadden. One of company's actions on Yanukovych's behalf was to produce a report justifying Yanukovych's imprisonment of former prime minister Yulia V. Tymoshenko (who was pro-European) 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. After Yanukovych lost power in Euromaidan and fled to Russia, 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. In 2019, Skadden lawyer Gregory B. Craig was indicted on charges of lying to federal prosecutors about the work he did at Skadden on behalf of the Yanukovych, but was acquitted in a jury trial.Ryan Lucas
Jury Finds Ex-White House Counsel Craig Not Guilty Of Lying To Government
''NPR'' (September 4, 2019). 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. Skadden, along with Mercury Public Affairs and the

Podesta Group The Podesta Group was a lobbying and public affairs firm based in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1988 by brothers John and Tony Podesta and has previously been known as Podesta Associates, podesta.com and PodestaMattoon. John Podesta left ...

, was investigated by the U.S. attorney's office for the

Southern District of New York The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case citations, S.D.N.Y.) is a federal trial court whose geographic jurisdiction encompasses eight counties of New York State. Two of these are in New York City: New ...

(SDNY) for possible

lobbying In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

violations regarding former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. In 2019, Skadden agreed to pay a $4.6 million settlement to the

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

over the firm's failure to register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agent Registrations Act. Skadden has been involved in representing Russian groups in corporate deals worth around $90 billion. Skadden has represented Alfa Bank, a Russian bank closely associated with Russian oligarchs and the Vladimir Putin regime. After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and amid heavy sanctions against Alfa Bank, Skadden said it was "in the process of ending our representations of Alfa Bank." Skadden has a long-standing relationship with

Russian oligarch Russian oligarchs ( Russian: олигархи, romanized: ''oligarkhi'') are business oligarchs of the former Soviet republics who rapidly accumulated wealth in the 1990s via the Russian privatisation that followed the dissolution of the Sovi ...

– Skadden refused to say whether it still represented him in 2022.

Fellowship Foundation

The firm established the Skadden Fellowship Foundation in 1988 to sponsor law school graduates who wish to practice public interest law.

Political contributions

Skadden partners and employees tend to support and contribute more to Democratic political candidates than to Republicans. Prominent lawyers at the firm endorsed and financially supported

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...

in his campaign to become president of the United States in 2004. In the run-up to

Super Tuesday Super Tuesday is the United States presidential primary election day in February or March when the greatest number of U.S. states hold primary elections and caucuses. Approximately one-third of all delegates to the presidential nominating co ...

2008, Skadden hosted a phone bank in support of

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

's 2008 presidential campaign. According to

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP) ...

, Skadden was one of the top law firms contributing to federal candidates during the 2012 election cycle, donating $1.98 million, 76% to Democrats. From 1990 through 2008, Skadden contributed $11.93 million to federal campaigns; between 2000 and 2008 the firm spent $2.2 million on lobbying.

Notable alumni

In addition to numerous professors and partners at other firms, some of the more notable former Skadden attorneys include: * Amelia Boone, obstacle racer, 2012

Spartan Race Spartan Race is a series of obstacle races of varying distance and difficulty ranging from 3 miles to marathon distances. These races are held in the United States and have been franchised to 30 countries, including Canada, South Korea, Austra ...

World Champion and three-time

Tough Mudder Tough Mudder is an endurance event series in which participants attempt obstacle courses. It was co-founded by Will Dean and Guy Livingstone. The obstacles often play on common human fears, such as fire, water, electricity and heights. The fi ...

champion * Bruce M. Buck, chairman of

Chelsea Football Club Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, they play their home games at Stamford Bridge. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football. ...

* Gregory B. Craig, former

White House counsel The White House counsel is a senior staff appointee of the president of the United States whose role is to advise the president on all legal issues concerning the president and their administration. The White House counsel also oversees the Of ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

* George B. Daniels, judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (2000–) * Robert Del Tufo, former

New Jersey attorney general The attorney general of New Jersey is a member of the executive cabinet of the state and oversees the Department of Law and Public Safety. The office is appointed by the governor of New Jersey, confirmed by the New Jersey Senate, and term limite ...

and

U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey The U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey is the chief federal law enforcement officer in New Jersey. On December 16, 2021, Philip R. Sellinger was sworn in as U.S. Attorney. The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey has juris ...

John Feerick John D. Feerick (born July 12, 1936) is a law professor at Fordham University School of Law in New York City. He served as the school's eighth dean from 1982-2002. From 2002-2004, he was the Leonard F. Manning Professor of Law at Fordham, and ...

, former dean of

Fordham University School of Law Fordham University School of Law is the law school of Fordham University. The school is located in Manhattan in New York City, and is one of eight ABA-approved law schools in that city. In 2013, 91% of the law school's first-time test t ...

* Joseph Flom, name-partner *

Chip Flowers Chipman "Chip" L. Flowers Jr. (born December 27, 1974, in Honolulu, Hawaii) is an American politician, attorney and business owner who served as the treasurer of the state of Delaware from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, Flower ...

, first African-American elected official in Delaware (state treasurer) and co-chair, National Democratic State Treasurers (2010-2014) *

Greg Giraldo Gregory Carlos Giraldo (December 10, 1965 – September 29, 2010) was an American stand-up comedian, television personality, and lawyer. He is remembered for his appearances on Comedy Central's televised roast specials, and for his work on ...

, lawyer turned comedian and roast master *

Keith Gottfried Keith Gottfried (born 1966 in Brooklyn, New York) is a strategic advisor to public companies and their board of directors in the areas of shareholder activism preparedness and defense. Over the course of a career that spans more than 30 years, G ...

, general counsel for the

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Urb ...

(2005–09) *

Laura Ingraham Laura Anne Ingraham (born June 19, 1963) is an American conservative television host. Gale Biography In Context. She has been the host of '' The Ingraham Angle'' on Fox News Channel since October 2017, and is the editor-in-chief of LifeZette ...

, Fox News anchor and host of ''The Ingraham Angle'' *

Merit Janow Merit E. Janow is a professor in the practice of international trade and dean at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs from 2013 to 2021. Biography Janow teaches graduate courses in international economic and trade pol ...

, American academic, former dean of School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University * Helene L. Kaplan, former Chairman of the Carnegie Corporation of New York * Mark N. Kaplan, former CEO of Drexel Burnham Lambert from 1970 to 1977 and CEO of

* Judge Judith S. Kaye, longest-tenured

chief judge of the New York Court of Appeals Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals refers to the position of chief judge on the New York Court of Appeals. They are also known as the Chief Judge of New York. The chief judge supervises the seven-judge Court of Appeals. In addition, th ...

, serving 1993-2008 *

Robert Lighthizer Robert Emmet Lighthizer (; born October 11, 1947) is an American attorney and government official who served as the United States Trade Representative from 2017 to 2021. After he graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 1973, Lighthi ...

, former

United States trade representative The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is an agency of the United States federal government responsible for developing and promoting American trade policy. Part of the Executive Office of the President, it is headed by the ...

(2017–21) * Finbarr O'Neill, former CEO of J.D. Power,

Hyundai Motor America Hyundai Motor America is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company. Along with Hyundai's USA manufacturing plant in Montgomery, Alabama called Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama, Hyundai has total of 19 manufacturing plants globally. ...

and

Mitsubishi Motors North America Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. is the U.S. operation of Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, overseeing sales and research and development functions. The company manufactures and sells Mitsubishi brand cars and sport utility vehicles through a ne ...

* Robert S. Pirie, co-chairman and CEO of Rothschild, North America, senior managing director of Bear Stearns & Co., and vice-chairman of Investment Banking at SG Cowen Securities Corporation * Douglas Rediker, executive chairman of International Capital Strategies; former U.S. alternate executive director,

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...

(2010–2012) * Irving S. Shapiro, former CEO, DuPont * Isaac Shapiro, former president, Japan Society *

, name partner * Mary L. Smith, principal deputy director and acting agency head of

Indian Health Service The Indian Health Service (IHS) is an operating division (OPDIV) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). IHS is responsible for providing direct medical and public health services to members of federally-recognized Nativ ...

; former official,

United States Department of Justice Civil Division The United States Department of Justice Civil Division represents the United States, its departments and agencies, members of Congress A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official bod ...

; former nominee, assistant attorney general,

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...

, Tax Division * Leo Strine, chief justice of the

Delaware Supreme Court The Delaware Supreme Court is the sole appellate court in the United States state of Delaware. Because Delaware is a popular haven for corporations, the Court has developed a worldwide reputation as a respected source of corporate law decision ...

(2014–2019); previously chancellor (2011–2014) and vice-chancellor (1998–2011) of the

Delaware Court of Chancery The Delaware Court of Chancery is a court of equity in the American state of Delaware. It is one of Delaware's three constitutional courts, along with the Supreme Court and Superior Court. Since 2018, the court consists of seven judges. The chie ...

Robert W. Sweet Robert Workman Sweet (October 15, 1922 – March 24, 2019) was an American jurist and United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Education and career Sweet ...

, judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (1978–1991, senior status 1991–2019) * William H. Timbers, former judge,

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory comprises the states of Connecticut, New York and Vermont. The court has appellate juri ...

(1971–1981, senior status 1981–1994); chief judge (1964–1971), judge (1960–1971), U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut * Alex van der Zwaan, attorney, charged with lying to federal investigators about his interactions with Rick Gates in an investigation in Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. * Stephen Vaughn, former acting United States trade representative (USTR) and USTR general counsel *

Harold M. Williams Harold Marvin Williams (January 5, 1928 - July 30, 2017) served as chairman of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission between 1977 and 1981. Williams was engaged in extensive public service and support of arts and education. UCLA When Willia ...

, former chair, Securities and Exchange Commission (1977–1981)

References

External links

*
Skadden Fellowship Foundation
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom Law firms established in 1948 Law firms based in New York City Privately held companies of the United States Foreign law firms with offices in Hong Kong Foreign law firms with offices in Japan 1948 establishments in New York City American companies established in 1948