Skadden

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates, commonly known as Skadden or sometimes Skadden Arps, is an international law firm based in New York City.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates
HeadquartersOne Manhattan West
New York City
United States[1]
No. of offices22
No. of attorneysApproximately 1,700 [2]
No. of employees3,500 (estimate, including partners)
Major practice areasTransactions, litigation/controversy and regulatory[3]
Key peopleEric J. Friedman (executive partner)[4]
Claudia I. Joyce (executive director/strategy)[5]
Noah J. Puntus (executive director/CFO)[6]
RevenueUS$ 2.41 billion (2015) [7]
Date foundedApril 1, 1948
FounderMarshall Skadden, John Slate, and Les Arps
Company typeLimited liability partnership
Websiteskadden.com

History

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 becomes 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]

Ukraine work

In 2012 Skadden took Viktor F. Yanukovych as a client, 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 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]

Locations

As of December 2016, 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]

Key people

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:

Rankings
Skadden's world headquarters at the 4 Times Square building, also formerly known as the Condé Nast building

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.[27] In 2016, Skadden had approximately 1,700 attorneys in 22 offices;[27] in 2011, the firm had approximately 1,900 attorneys in 23 offices.[28] Measured by the number of attorneys, Skadden is the fifth largest law firm in New York and 12th largest in the United States.[27][29] In 2016, Skadden was 187th on Forbes' list of America's Largest Private Companies by revenue.[30] Previously, the firm ranked 335th[31] in 1995, 194th[32] in 2003 and 213th in 2010.[33] In 2015, Skadden became the first law firm ever to handle more than $1 trillion in M&A deals in a single year[34][35] and, for the third time in six years, the Financial Times' "Innovative Lawyers" report named Skadden the most innovative law firm in North America.[36][37]

Other work

Skadden Fellowship Foundation

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."[38] 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),[39] plus all the fringe benefits the sponsoring organization offers its employees. Through 2016, the firm has awarded 791 fellowships.[40] Since the program's inception, nearly 90 percent of its fellows have remained in public interest or public sector work.[41]

Political contributions

Skadden partners and employees tend to support and contribute more to Democratic political candidates than to Republicans.[42] Prominent lawyers at the firm endorsed and financially supported John Kerry in his campaign to become president of the United States in 2004.[43][44] In the run-up to Super Tuesday 2008, Skadden hosted a phone bank in support of Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.[45][46]

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.[47] From 1990 through 2008, Skadden contributed $11.93 million to federal campaigns; between 2000 and 2008 the firm spent $2.2 million on lobbying.[48]

Notable alumni

In addition to numerous professors and partners at other firms, some of the more notable former Skadden attorneys include:

See also

References
  1. "New York". Skadden. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  2. "Forbes America's Largest Companies". Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  3. "Practices - Skadden, Arps". Skadden.com. Archived from the original on 2012-07-02. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
  4. "Eric J. Friedman – Skadden". Skadden.com.
  5. "Claudia Joyce – Skadden". Skadden.com.
  6. "Noah Puntus – Skadden". Skadden.com.
  7. "Forbes America's Largest Private Companies". Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  8. "History Skadden". www.skadden.com. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
  9. Walsh, Mary Williams (2011-10-18). "Peter Mullen, a Force Behind Skadden Arps, Dies at 83". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-01-04.
  10. "For Women Lawyers, An Uphill Struggle". New York Times Magazine. March 6, 1988.
  11. "Unique Partnership - CCNY". CCNY. 2013-03-07. Retrieved 2017-01-04.
  12. Herszenhorn, David M.; Sanger, David E. (December 13, 2012). "Failings Found in Trial of Ukrainian Ex-Premier". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  13. Voreacos, David; Larson, Erik (3 April 2018). "Lawyer Who Lied to Mueller About Russian Spy Gets 30 Days". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  14. Vogel, Kenneth P. (May 11, 2020). "Skadden Said to Have Paid $11 Million to Settle Ukraine Dispute". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  15. Larry Buchanan and Karen Yourish (May 20, 2019). "Tracking 29 Investigations Related to Trump". nytimes.com. Retrieved May 22, 2019.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  16. Vogel, Kenneth P.; Goldstein, Matthew (2019-01-17). "Skadden Arps Agrees to $4.6 Million Settlement in Ukraine Lobbying Case". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-01-18.
  17. "Offices". Skadden. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
  18. "Times Square Is Having Trouble Hanging On to Office Workers". Bloomberg.com. 2017-11-15. Retrieved 2017-11-21.
  19. Skadden > Attorneys Archived February 3, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  20. "How Skadden Does It" Archived 2012-04-17 at the Wayback Machine, Andrew Longstreth, The American Lawyer, May 2006
  21. "Skadden". Law.com. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  22. "Professionals - Skadden, Arps". Skadden.com. Retrieved 2015-05-01.
  23. "Professionals - Skadden, Arps". Skadden.com. Retrieved 2015-05-01.
  24. "Professionals *Skadden, Arps". Skadden.com. Retrieved 2015-11-16.
  25. "Mark N. Kaplan". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  26. "Mark N. Kaplan | Professionals | Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP". www.skadden.com. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  27. "Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher". www.americanlawyer.com. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  28. "IRL Largest 250 Law Firms in the U.S." Retrieved November 12, 2003.
  29. "ILRG Largest 350 Law Firms in the US". www.ilrg.com. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  30. Murphy, Andrea. "America's Largest Private Companies 2016". Forbes. Retrieved 2016-12-05.
  31. "Forbes Largest Private Companies 2003". December 10, 2008. Archived from the original on December 11, 2008.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  32. "Forbes Largest Private Companies 2003". December 11, 2008.
  33. "#213 Skadden, Arps - Forbes.com". www.forbes.com. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  34. Hoffman, Maureen Farrell and Liz. "Trillion Dollar M&A Milestones". WSJ. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  35. "With DuPont Deal, Skadden Breaks $1 Trillion M&A Barrier for 2015". The American Lawyer. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  36. "Financial Times, 2012 U.S. Report" (PDF). Retrieved January 4, 2017.
  37. "North America Innovative Lawyers". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  38. https://www.skaddenfellowships.org/about-foundation
  39. "Q&A with Susan Butler Plum: Enabling Young Lawyers to Work with the Poor". Harvard AIDS Initiative. 2016-09-22. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  40. "Skadden Foundation homepage". December 16, 2016.
  41. "Skadden Fellows Home". Retrieved January 4, 2017.
  42. "Fundrace 2008 Campaign Donations, Huffington Post
  43. "The New Fat Cats" Archived 2012-02-26 at the Wayback Machine from Business Week Online April 12, 2004
  44. "Business leaders for Kerry" from St. Petersburg Times August 5, 2004
  45. "Barack Obama : : Change We Can Believe In | Event | Times Square Phone Bank". My.barackobama.com. 2013-01-01. Archived from the original on 2014-02-24. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
  46. "Barack Obama : : Change We Can Believe In | Event | Times Square Phone Bank - LAST PUSH". Newyork.barackobama.com. 2013-01-01. Archived from the original on 2008-12-08. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
  47. "Lawyers & Lobbyists: Top Contributors to Federal Candidates, Parties, and Outside Groups". OpenSecrets.org. Center for Responsive Politics.
  48. "Organizations: Skadden, Arps et al". OpenSecrets.org. Center for Responsive Politics. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  49. "Professionals - Skadden, Arps". Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  50. Chile, Patricio (August 29, 2019). "Former Skadden Partner Greg Craig Takes Stand". Bloomberg Law. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  51. http://www.chipflowers.com; http://www.flowerscounselgroup.com/index.php?page=the-honorable-chipman-flowers-jr-esq
  52. Palmer, Doug (April 27, 2017). "Stephen Vaughn, the Hamiltonian at USTR". Politico. Retrieved May 11, 2017.

Further reading
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