Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP

Chairmen: Thomas M Cerabino, Steven J Gartner
Number of partners: 180
Total number of lawyers: 700
Languages:  English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Spanish


Firm Overview:
Willkie is an elite international law firm that delivers superior client service across a broad spectrum of practice areas. In addition to the primary areas of corporate/M&A; private equity; business reorganisation and restructuring; complex litigation; compliance, investigations and enforcement; antitrust and competition; asset management; and insurance and reinsurance, the firm’s approximately 700 attorneys collaborate to provide multidisciplinary advice across the areas of capital markets; communications and media; cybersecurity and privacy; environment, health and safety; executive compensation and employee benefits; finance; global trade and investment; intellectual property; private clients; real estate; special committee; structured finance and derivatives; tax; and a wide range of industries.

Willkie brings together multidisciplinary capabilities to deliver comprehensive advice in an integrated manner, leveraging the firm’s resources to create value for clients.

Main Areas of Practice:

Corporate/M&A:
Working in close cooperation across offices in the US and Europe, Willkie attorneys provide advice on significant domestic M&A matters as well as complex cross-border transactions. The team represents buyers, sellers, special committees of boards, debt and equity investors and financial advisors in matters ranging from contested takeovers and management buyouts to strategic alliances, leveraged recaps and acquisitions from reorganisation proceedings. The practice advises both public and private companies in a broad range of industries. The team finds solutions to meet client objectives and helps clients early on in the process to identify and assess risks in a transaction. The group also regularly advises clients on relevant regulatory and judicial developments in areas such as antitrust, tax, ERISA, corporate governance and securities laws as they affect the M&A environment.
Contact: David K Boston
Tel: +1 212 728 8625
Email: [email protected]
Contact: Steven A Seidman
Tel: +1 212 728 8763
Email: [email protected]

Private Equity:
Willkie represents more than 150 US and international private equity sponsors as well as thousands of portfolio companies, management teams, issuers, debt providers and financial advisors. The team provides ‘lifecycle’ legal counsel to clients: from pre-IPO consideration, planning, launch and other activities to follow-on offerings, M&A, and investments. Building strong client relationships, many clients retain Willkie’s services beyond the first engagement and through their growth cycle. Willkie is one of the few major law firms to offer deep transactional, fund formation and regulatory compliance experience, combined with market credibility and a collaborative practice approach.
Contact: Jeffrey R. Poss
Tel: +1 212 728 8536
Email: [email protected]
Contact: Neil W. Townsend
Tel: +1 212 728 8272
Email: [email protected]

Business Reorganisation & Restructuring:
Willkie’s business reorganisation and restructuring department is an international practice with experience in all aspects of business and financial restructurings and insolvency matters. Integrated US and European restructuring professionals offer the hands-on, results-driven experience that today’s distressed situations demand. Professionals are held in high regard for their responsiveness and proven experience in complex multi-lateral cross-border restructurings (both in and out of court). Willkie represents a broad spectrum of clients in the US, UK, France, Germany and other key European jurisdictions.
Contact: Matthew A Feldman
Tel: +1 212 728 8651
Email: [email protected]
Contact: Rachel C Strickland
Tel: +1 212 728 8544
Email: [email protected]

Complex Litigation:
The firm is known for advising clients in virtually all major areas of financial services litigation, including antitrust, bankruptcy, complex commercial, compliance, investigations and enforcement, corporate governance, employment, financial reporting, insurance and reinsurance, intellectual property, securities and white-collar litigation. Willkie’s lawyers are frequently sought to intervene as counsel or arbitrators in various national and international arbitrations. The firm represents major manufacturers, financial services companies, accounting firms, insurance and reinsurance companies and brokers, media companies and individuals (such as corporate officers, directors and accountants) in complex commercial and class-action litigation.
Contact: Tariq Mundiya
Tel: +1 212 728 8565
Email: [email protected]

Compliance, Investigations & Enforcement:
Willkie’s compliance, investigations and enforcement group is comprised of an elite international team, joining up the experience of litigators in the US, UK and Continental Europe to provide an integrated platform of compliance, investigations and enforcement services offering a comprehensive approach to complex regulatory and criminal matters. The team handles all types of investigations and proceedings involving numerous agencies including bribery, corruption, money laundering, fraud and sanctions matters.
Contact: Martin J Weinstein
Tel: +1 202 303 1122
Email: [email protected]
Contact: Peter Burrell
Tel: +44 20 3580 4702
Email: [email protected]

Antitrust & Competition:
Willkie has a long-standing history of handling high-profile antitrust litigation and mergers. The team has represented a global client base in national and international merger filings, US and European investigations of all forms of anticompetitive activity, class action and private litigation, and business ventures in multiple jurisdictions. The team also enjoys a strong reputation for effective representation of clients in connection with regulatory investigations in the US and before the European Commission. The team focuses on providing practical advice to clients facing cross-border antitrust problems across a wide spectrum of industries.
Contact: Jeffrey B. Korn
Tel: +1 212 728 8842
Email: [email protected]
Contact: William H Rooney
Tel: +1 212 728 8259
Email: [email protected]

Asset Management:
The firm is recognised as preeminent in the asset management area and provides a wide array of legal services to, among other clients, registered and regulated open-end and closed-end funds, hedge funds, private equity funds and other private funds, and their sponsors, advisers, directors, partners, managers, shareholders, clients and service providers. The team regularly advises asset managers on subjects ranging from operations, to fund formations, to compliance and regulation. The team provides insight and knowledge into the legal needs of sponsors of public and private funds alike, bringing a practical, efficient approach to analysing issues and solving problems. The team provides vast regulatory experience and includes a former Director of the SEC’s Division of Investment Management as well as other former senior SEC staff members.
Contact: Barry P Barbash
Tel: +1 202 303 1201
Email: [email protected]
Contact: Margery K Neale
Tel: +1 212 728 8297
Email: [email protected]