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 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 and Les Arps. 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. 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, former federal district court judge sitting in the U.S. District Court for the SDNY; former U.S. attorney for the District of Connecticut
* Patrick B. Fitzgerald, former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; as special counsel for the Department of Justice, the federal prosecutor in charge of the investigation of the Valerie Plame Affair
*Fred T. Goldberg, Jr., commissioner of Internal Revenue (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
*Michael Leiter, former director of the National Counterterrorism Center

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 regime in Russia, such as Alfa Bank, Roman Abramovich, 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 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 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, was investigated by the U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) for possible lobbying violations regarding former