2024 DIVERSITY DATABASE UNDERWRITER Proskauer Rose LLP

Proskauer handles incredibly diversified work across top-notch private investment funds, global finance, private equity transactions and M&A, and trials and Investigations practices. The firm supports clients throughout the entire life cycle of capital, from raising and deploying it to executing transactions, navigating regulation, managing risk, and resolving high-stakes disputes.

An Entrepreneurial Spirit 

Firm forefather William R. Rose opened shop in downtown Manhattan in 1875 at the sprightly age of 21. Rose’s first clients were local retailers, and his skill soon caught the attention of New York’s burgeoning business class, who hired Rose’s firm to represent them in corporate and personal estate matters. The firm’s reputation (and headcount) continued to grow, and by 1907, name partner Benjamin Paskus—a tax specialist—joined the firm. The outfit founded a successful tax practice following the passage of the Sixteenth Amendment in 1913. Joseph Proskauer joined the firm in 1930 and ushered in a new era for the firm. Proskauer’s passion for music forged connections with Carnegie Hall and some of America’s most prominent musicians, including Leonard Bernstein, whose estate is still handled by the firm.

Representing Excellence

The firm has evolved, along with its clients, to become a private capital and global finance powerhouse with more than 900 lawyers in the world’s leading financial centers. The firm’s perspective is shaped by decades working alongside asset managers, private capital sponsors, portfolio companies, and leading public and private businesses across sectors. 

Industry-wise, Proskauer remains the king of media, entertainment, and sports. The firm holds the No. 1 spot in Vault’s Media, Entertainment, & Sports rankings, and clients include MLB, the NFL, the NHL, and the NBA. The firm’s sports law practice began in 1963, thanks to partner George Gallantz, who represented a young organization called the National Basketball Association. Three years later, an attorney named David Stern joined the firm. Stern went on to serve as counsel to the NBA, Executive Vice President, and finally, Commissioner (he retired in February 2014). The firm also counts Gary Bettman, Commissioner of the NHL, among its notable alumni. The firm’s sports-related experience includes everything from M&A, financing, and stadium negotiations to collective bargaining, employment, litigation, intellectual property, and licensing.

You May Have Heard of Them

Proskauer shines across a range of transactional and contentious practice areas. The firm’s client roster glitters too. The firm’s clients include Adams Street, Ardian, Ares, Bank of America, Barney’s, the Broadway League, Burberry, Church & Dwight, Coca-Cola, Creative Artists Agency, Diageo, Hermès, Hg, Hulu, J.P. Morgan, Johnson & Johnson, MetLife, MoMA, Neiman Marcus, Neuberger Berman, the New York Stock Exchange, The New York Times, Sony Pictures, Tiffany, T-Mobile, and all the major sports leagues.

• Advised leading global software investor Hg on a recent fundraising totaling $20 billion across three separate vehicles.
• Advised Ares on the arrangement of a $2.4 billion debt facility for Vantage Data Centers, a global provider of hyperscale data center campuses.
• Filed a plan of adjustment on behalf of Puerto Rico, the first territorial debt restructuring in U.S. history. This critical victory for Puerto Rico helps end its four-year bankruptcy, cut billions in debt, fix its pension system, and balance its budget. 
• Secured a unanimous jury defense win on behalf of Major League Soccer in an antitrust suit brought by the North American Soccer League.

• 96 practices and 202 lawyers ranked, 2025 and 2026—Chambers 
• 59 practices and 65 lawyers ranked, 2025 and 2026—Legal 500 
• Antitrust Firm of the Year and Entertainment Firm of the Year, 2026—Benchmark Litigation
• European Law Firm of the Year—Transactions, 2026—Private Debt Investor
• Most Admired Law Firms to Work For, 2025—Los Angeles Business Journal