Latham & Watkins
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Latham & Watkins LLP is a global law firm, one of the largest in the world. Latham currently employs approximately 2,000 attorneys in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.[1] The firm was started in Los Angeles in 1934 and has extensive California roots, but its largest office is now in New York City.
Latham has historically been one of the most profitable law firms. In 2008, Latham & Watkins became the first US-based law firm to attain more than $2 billion in yearly revenue.[2] During 2009 the firm has been in the news for its financial difficulties and subsequent employee layoffs, likely the key factors in its drop from the 7th most prestigious firm as rated by associates in 2009 to the 17th most prestigious firm as rated by associates in 2010.Referenzfehler: Es fehlt ein schließendes </ref>.[3] The organization ranked firms by billable hours, demographic diversity, and pro bono participation. The results can be found on the organization's website, http://www.betterlegalprofession.org.[4]
At the 2008 ALB SE Asia Law Awards[5], Latham & Watkins was crowned:
- Deal of the Year - Project Finance Deal of the Year
- Deal of the Year - Equity Market Deal of the Year
At the 2008 ALB China Law Awards[5], Latham & Watkins was crowned:
- Deal of the Year - Project Finance Deal of the Year
Notable clients and cases
- Represented Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. in its $4.84 billion sale to the Sony Corporation in cooperation with Providence Equity Partners Inc, Texas Pacific Group Inc, DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Comcast Corporation (September 2004).[6]
- Advised Bayer AG in its successful 2006 €16.4 billion white knight takeover offer for Schering AG pharmaceuticals.[7]
- Legal counsel to bookrunners and arrangers Deutsche Bank Securities Inc, Goldman Sachs International and Merrill Lynch International in $2 billion Rule 144A/Regulation S notes offer for ICICI Bank Ltd, through its Bahrain branch (Oct. 2007). This transaction was shortlisted for the Asia Law India award in the category capital markets.[8]
- Represented the Church of Scientology in the Reed Slatkin Ponzi scheme[9], and in 2008 letters signed by David J. Schindler on Latham & Watkins stationary were hand-delivered to Anonymous protesters identified by Scientology, demanding cessation of unspecified "illegal activities against the church".[10][11]
- Represented Eli Lilly & Co. in its $6.5 billion acquisition of ImClone in October 2008, in which Eli Lilly prevailed in an abortive price war with Bristol-Myers Squibb, a rival pharmaceutical company that had been seeking control of ImClone, a leader in the field of oncology medicine.[12]
- Advised Yahoo! Inc. in the definitive agreement to acquire Arabic language online portal Maktoob in August 2009. Financial terms were not disclosed.[13]
Notable attorneys
- Sean Berkowitz - Federal prosecutor in the trials of Enron executives Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling.
- John Kirby - Intellectual property attorney, after whom Nintendo may have named its "Kirby" character after a series of high-profile cases.
- Gregory G. Garre - Former Solicitor General of the United States.
- Maureen Mahoney - Former Deputy Solicitor General in 1991, represented the University of Michigan before the U.S. Supreme Court in Grutter v. Bollinger.
- Philip Perry, was Dept. of Homeland Security[14] General Counsel, now a partner in the litigation department and chair of the Public Policy practice group. He is married to Elizabeth Cheney, attorney, diplomat and daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney.
- David J. Schindler – convicted hackers Justin Tanner Petersen, Kevin Mitnick, and Kevin Poulsen[15].
- Joshua Stein- One of the leading writers on commercial real estate law in the US as well as a leading practitioner. Editor of the website Real-Estate-Law.com [1].
Offices
Latham currently has 1,900 attorneys throughout its offices in: Abu Dhabi, Beijing, Barcelona, Brussels, Chicago, Dubai, Doha, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, Munich, Newark, New Jersey, New York City, Costa Mesa, California, Paris, San Diego, San Francisco, Shanghai, Silicon Valley(Menlo Park), Singapore, Tokyo and Washington D.C.
Notable alumni
- Bruce Babbitt, former Governor of Arizona and U.S. Secretary of the Interior
- Helge Boes, Central Intelligence Agency officer killed in Afghanistan
- Michael Chertoff, former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security
- Chris Cox, former United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair
- Fred T. Goldberg, Jr. former Partner and Commissioner of Internal Revenue at the Internal Revenue Service
- Carla Anderson Hills, former U.S. Trade Representative and United States Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary
- Roderick M. Hills, former SEC Chair
- Reed Hundt, former Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair
- DeMaurice Smith, Executive Director of the NFLPA
- Bill Wehrum, acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Air & Radiation United States Environmental Protection Agency
- James J. White, Robert A. Sullivan Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School and author of a treatise on the Uniform Commercial Code (with Summers)
- Beth Wilkinson - Prosecutor in the Oklahoma City bombing case, former General Counsel of FannieMae and currently a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
References
External links
- ↑ http://www.lw.com/Attorneys.aspx
- ↑ Ashby Jones, "Latham & Watkins Breaks $2 Billion Revenue Barrier", Wall Street Journal, February 11, 2008.
- ↑ Adam Liptak, In Students’ Eyes, Look-Alike Lawyers Don’t Make the Grade, New York Times, October 29, 2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/29/us/29bar.html?em&ex=1193889600&en=4b0cd84261ffe5b4&ei=5087%0A
- ↑ Thomas Adcock and Zusha Elinson, Student Group Grades Firms On Diversity, Pro Bono Work, "New York Law Journal," October 19, 2007, http://www.law.com/jsp/nylj/PubArticleNY.jsp?hubtype=BackPage&id=1192698212305
- ↑ a b www.legalbusinessonline.com.au
- ↑ $4.84 billion acquisition, International Law Office, 2004 September 13. Abgerufen im 2009 October 18
- ↑ Rise of Latham & Watkins In: Vol. 7, No. 1., M&A Journal, 2007 March 31. Abgerufen im 2009 October 18
- ↑ India Awards, Asia Law, 2008 December. Abgerufen im 2009 October 18
- ↑ Scott Reckard: Scientology groups to pay back $3.5 million, Los Angeles Times, 2006 November 8. Abgerufen im 2008 April 24
- ↑ Tyler Gray: Anonymous on Trial? Scientology Steps Up Skirmish In: Radar, 31. März 2008. Abgerufen am 16. Dezember 2008
- ↑ David Lat: Latham & Watkins to Free Stress Tests? In: Above the Law, 1. April 2008. Abgerufen am 16. Dezember 2008
- ↑ Lisa Lee, David Marcus, Amy Wu: Latham gilds Lilly's ImClone offer In: The Deal, 10. Oktober 2008. Abgerufen am 18. Oktober 2009
- ↑ ? In: Mideast Legal Business Online, 3. September 2009. Abgerufen am 17. Oktober 2009
- ↑ [2]
- ↑ Lisa Bowman: Schindler heads toward life post-Mitnick, ZD Net, 1999 October 3. Abgerufen im 2008 April 24