Latham & Watkins
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 precipitous drop from the 7th most prestigious firm as rated by Vault in 2009 to the 17th most prestigious firm as rated by Vault in 2010.[3][4]
Recognition
The American Lawyer's 2008 "A-list" ranked Latham & Watkins 2nd in the nation out of more than 200 firms[3] taking into account factors such as revenue per lawyer, pro bono, diversity and associate satisfaction. It ranked 7th in the 2009 Vault Prestige List, a survey that asks law firm associates to rank the perceived prestige of the major law firms[4]. Further, in 2007 the Vault ranked Latham as one of the "Best 20 Firms to Work For," one of only three large firms with New York offices to make the list.[5]. These surveys occurred prior to the mass layoffs. Since that time, Latham has dropped to 17th in rank.
Latham was ranked first by Legal500, along with two other firms in the U.S., for project finance. Latham was also identified in the December 2006 issue of The American Lawyer as the Am Law 200's "most admired firm." Legal Business magazine awarded Latham the coveted title "Law Firm of the Decade" for its ability to handle the immense challenges posed by the legal industry globally over the last ten years and its financial and strategic success during the period.
On October 10, 2007, Latham & Watkins was included in a ranking of law firms by the national law student group Building a Better Legal Profession.[5][6] 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.[7]
At the 2008 ALB SE Asia Law Awards[8], 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[8], Latham & Watkins was crowned:
- Deal of the Year - Project Finance Deal of the Year
Layoffs
Latham has recently been in the news for its financial difficulties, prompting employee layoffs. Given Latham's heavy reliance on transactional work for its revenues, it saw major declines in 2008. In 2008, revenue fell by $100,000,000, approximately 4%.[9] Profits per partner fell by 21%.[10]
In March 2008, managing partner Bob Dell announced: "there will be no layoffs", and that it was not even on the table for discussion.[11] However the falling revenue prompted management to freeze associate salaries in December 2008.[12], and on February 27, 2009, Latham announced that it was laying off 190 associates, and 250 staff members.[13]. This is one of the largest layoffs by a major law firm in history.[citation needed]. In the New York office, more than half the first year associates were laid off in February. A total of 130 New York associates, representing 45% of the office, were cut over January and February 2009. [14]
Additionally, Latham reportedly made Vault surveys due on February 26, 2009, the day before the February 27, 2009 mass layoffs, in what some have criticized[citation needed] as an attempt to prevent layoffs from influencing their Vault ranking.
On the legal blog Above The Law the term "Lathamed" has been coined to indicate mass layoffs and/or pay freezes among a law firm or company.[15]
Notable clients and cases
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- 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 (Sept. 2004).
- Advised Bayer AG in its successful 2006 €16.4 billion takeover offer for Schering AG pharmaceuticals.
- 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).
- Represented the Church of Scientology in the Reed Slatkin Ponzi scheme[16], 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".[17][18]
Notable Latham & Watkins 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[19] 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[20].
- 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 [6].
Offices
Latham currently has 1,900 attorneys throughout its offices in: Abu Dhabi, 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 Latham & Watkins alumni
- Bruce Babbitt, former Governor of Arizona and U.S. Secretary of the Interior
- Michael Chertoff, former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security
- Chris Cox, former SEC Chair
- Samuel Fishman, convicted on mail fraud case. [21]
- Fred T. Goldberg, Jr. former Partner and Commissioner of Internal Revenue at the IRS
- Carla Anderson Hills, former U.S. Trade Representative and HUD Secretary
- Roderick M. Hills, former SEC Chair
- Reed Hundt, former FCC Chair
- Dana Latham, Commissioner of Internal Revenue from 1958-1961
- 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.
References
- ^ http://www.lw.com/Attorneys.aspx
- ^ Ashby Jones, "Latham & Watkins Breaks $2 Billion Revenue Barrier", Wall Street Journal, February 11, 2008.
- ^ [1]
- ^ http://abovethelaw.com/2009/08/official_new_vault_rankings.php?show=comments#comments
- ^ Amir Efrati, You Say You Want a Big-Law Revolution, Take II, "Wall Street Journal", October 10, 2007.
- ^ 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
- ^ http://www.abovethelaw.com/2009/03/2008_revenue_numbers.php
- ^ http://abovethelaw.com/2009/02/latham_watkins_profits_per_par.php
- ^ http://www.abovethelaw.com/2008/03/whats_up_at_latham_watkinsmora.php
- ^ http://abovethelaw.com/2008/12/latham_watkins_salary_freeze.php
- ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/27/AR2009022702751_pf.html
- ^ http://abovethelaw.com/2009/02/nationwide_layoff_watch_latham_1.php
- ^ http://abovethelaw.com/2009/08/fall_recruiting_open_thread_va_27.php?show=comments#comments
- ^ Reckard, Scott (2006 November 8). "Scientology groups to pay back $3.5 million". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008 April 24.
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(help) - ^ Gray, Tyler (2008-03-31). "Anonymous on Trial? Scientology Steps Up Skirmish". Radar. Retrieved 2008-12-16.
- ^ Lat, David (2008-04-01). "Latham & Watkins to Free Stress Tests?". Above the Law. Retrieved 2008-12-16.
- ^ [2]
- ^ Bowman, Lisa (1999 October 3). "Schindler heads toward life post-Mitnick". ZD Net. Retrieved 2008 April 24.
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(help) - ^ Heller, Jamie (2008 March 28). "Lawyer Pleas in Case Charging that He Bilked Firm and Clients". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2008 April 18.
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