Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz

Each year, a significant chunk of the world’s largest and most complex deals—major mergers and acquisitions, antitrust and shareholder litigation, big-name restructurings, and multibillion-dollar real estate ventures—are cranked through the well-oiled machine that is Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. A gifted few whose compensation is far above industry standards man the apparatus. Although it may not be the biggest or highest-revenue-generating firm, it is the most profitable place in the world to practice law. Wachtell Lipton is one of the smallest firms in the Am Law 100, but it is continuously one of the top firms (and usually the top firm) when it comes to public-private partnerships. It also offers compensation for first-year associates that exceeds the market rate.

The New York Four

Founded in 1965 by four great legal minds of NYU’s Law Review—Herbert Wachtell, Martin Lipton, Leonard Rosen, and George Katz—this resolutely New York firm still operates from a single Manhattan office. Public interest law champion Katz died young, at 57, in 1989. Rosen remained of counsel at the firm until he passed away in 2014 at the age of 83. Wachtell and Lipton remain at the firm as active partners. In 1982, Lipton—who remains one of the most influential lawyers in New York—created the “poison pill,” one of the most famous and enduring ways to protect shareholders’ rights.

Corporate Titans

What sets the firm apart—even rivals concede—is that in a city of razor-sharp competitors, no other firm perfectly matches what Wachtell Lipton does. From its early days, the firm steered clear of run-of-the-mill corporate matters, choosing messier, riskier work. Thus, Wachtell Lipton relies much less on bread-and-butter clients and politely declines more plebeian (though profitable) engagements. The firm was one of the first to link its fees to deal value, a model that became the aspiration of most major M&A houses.

When it comes to M&A, Wachtell Lipton reigns supreme, holding the No. 1 spot in Vault’s M&A ranking for more than a decade. It also regularly places among the top 10 firms in Vault’s General Corporate, Private Equity, and Banking & Financial Services rankings. The firm was involved in the death’s door resuscitation of Chrysler in the 1970s. It also played a key role in the much-publicized acquisition of Getty Oil Company, in which Texaco’s white knight offer was heralded as one of the greatest acquisitions in history. It took the lead on what some observers have called the most complex real estate deal in history: the successful negotiation of a master development agreement for the World Trade Center site following September 11, 2001. More recently, the firm has seen great success with leveraged buyouts and initial public offerings, corporate restructurings, and other finance matters; for example, it represented OpenAI in the largest private capital fund raising in history and Capital One’s $35.3 billion acquisition of Discover in the largest bank merger in the past 15 years.

See You in Court

The firm’s litigators are no slouches either, complementing Wachtell Lipton’s corporate practice with high-profile securities, corporate governance, and takeover matters. The firm’s many notable cases include Morrison v. National Australia Bank—in which the Supreme Court determined that Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act applies solely to U.S. securities purchased and sold in the United States—and Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. v. Vulcan Materials Co.—in which the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed the order to enjoin a hostile takeover of the firm’s client based on improper use of confidential materials. Recent notable matters include representing Coinbase against the SEC’s claims that the crypto company operates as an unregistered securities exchange broker-dealer and clearing agency and that its staking program affects unregistered offers and sales of securities. The firm also represented Twitter in litigation forcing Elon Musk to make good on his $44 billion takeover of the company.

• Wachtell Lipton has repeatedly advanced client interests through significant contributions to corporate law. Among other things, the firm originated the shareholder rights plan or “poison pill,” invented a novel two-tiered price structure to resolve the antitrust-risk impasse in the Valspar/Sherwin-Williams merger, and structured the first cross-border Morris Trust transaction between SmithKline Beckman and Beecham.
• Wachtell Lipton has been involved in the transactions giving rise to most of the landmark corporate governance decisions in Delaware (and elsewhere), including the Corwin, Arconic, Allergan, Airgas, Sotheby’s, Vulcan Materials, Household, Time Warner, and QVC decisions.
• After the 2008 financial crisis, Wachtell Lipton represented the U.S. Treasury in the rescues of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
• Wachtell Lipton is the leading firm for appraisal litigation defense, including winning PetSmart, the largest appraisal case in Delaware history. The firm also played a central role in the litigation related to the tragic events of 9/11 and a leading role in the redevelopment of the World Trade Center.

• Real Estate and Mergers & Acquisitions Groups of the Year and five MVPs, 2024—Law360
• Andrew J. Nussbaum and Mark F. Veblen named Dealmakers of the Year, 2025—The American Lawyer
• No. 2 and No. 9 M&A Lawyers; No. 1 and No. 3 Financing Lawyers; No. 1 and No. 8 Antitrust Lawyers; No. 1 and No. 6 Employment Lawyers; No. 5 and No. 6 Tax Lawyers; No. 6 Technology Lawyer; No. 1 and No. 7 Energy Lawyers—MergerLinks
• Zachary Podolsky named Dealmaker of the Year, 2024—New York Law Journal
• 21 Lawyers named to the 100 Leading Lawyers in America list, 2025—Lawdragon