Wachtell Lipton was founded on a handshake in 1965 as a small group of lawyers dedicated to providing advice and expertise at the highest levels.

We have achieved extraordinary results following the distinctive vision of our founders — a cohesive team of lawyers intensely focused on solving our clients’ most important problems.

We have experience in the fields of mergers and acquisitions, strategic investments, takeovers and takeover defense, shareholder activism, corporate and securities law and corporate governance. We handle some of the largest, most complex and demanding transactions in the United States and around the world. We counsel both public and private acquirors and targets. We handle sensitive investigation and litigation matters and corporate restructurings, and counsel boards of directors and senior management in critical situations. We have a track record of original and groundbreaking solutions and innovations that have had a dramatic impact on business and law. We are thought leaders.

Our distinctive structure defines our approach. We maintain a ratio of associates to partners significantly below that of other firms. We focus on matters that require the attention, extensive experience and sophistication of our partners. We limit the number and type of matters we undertake. Our system of lock-step compensation promotes a careful selection of matters as well as the flexibility to bring the right expertise to bear without regard to factors extrinsic to providing the best service and advice. We work together on a task-force basis on all of our matters, bringing to bear the requisite mix of people and expertise across practice areas. Our structure and approach attracts talented and entrepreneurial lawyers, who enable us to achieve excellent results for our clients in complex and critical matters.