The traits that fueled Skadden’s rise from a New York startup to a global powerhouse — innovative, collaborative, client-centric — continue to define our firm culture. We remain focused on developing an inclusive complement of extraordinary attorneys who work together as a team to deliver the highest quality advice and best outcomes for clients.

Founded by Marshall Skadden, Les Arps and John Slate on April Fools’ Day in 1948, Skadden began as a scrappy upstart among a sea of established “white shoe” law firms in New York. Joe Flom was hired as the firm’s first associate later that year, and litigator Bill Meagher, the fifth partner to lend his name to the firm’s letterhead as it appears today, joined in 1959.

Our first two decades were marked by slow and steady growth of our client base as we set out to establish ourselves as the go-to firm for our clients’ most complex legal problems. Our willingness to handle proxy fights in the 1950s and early 1960s — matters deemed unseemly by white shoe firms — positioned us to ultimately become the firm of choice for the hostile takeovers that dominated the M&A landscape beginning in the 1970s.

Recognizing the value of providing full-service advice to clients, from day one we sought to develop a range of complementary practices, like litigation, tax and antitrust. Client needs led us to open offices in other cities beginning in 1973, and the volume of work we were handling fueled exponential growth in the number of attorneys at the firm in the 1980s. That growth included a significant expansion of the practices we offered to clients, including restructuring, finance, real estate, mass torts and securities litigation, as well as the opening of offices in Europe and Asia.

In the decades since, we’ve built on that platform to provide advice to clients around the world on their most important matters. Our core values reflect the ideals of our history, and we remain committed to providing excellent lawyering and unrivaled client service in all our work.

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  • Advertising Law
  • Antitrust Law
  • Appellate Practice
  • Arbitration
  • Banking and Finance Law
  • Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law
  • Bet-the-Company Litigation
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Communications Law
  • Corporate Compliance Law
  • Corporate Governance Law
  • Corporate Law
  • Criminal Defense: General Practice
  • Criminal Defense: White-Collar
  • Derivatives and Futures Law
  • Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law
  • Employment Law - Management
  • Energy Law
  • Environmental Law
  • Equipment Finance Law
  • FDA Law
  • Financial Services Regulation Law
  • Government Relations Practice
  • Health Care Law
  • Information Technology Law
  • Insurance Law
  • International Arbitration - Commercial
  • International Arbitration - Governmental
  • International Trade and Finance Law
  • Labor Law - Management
  • Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity Law
  • Litigation - Antitrust
  • Litigation - Banking and Finance
  • Litigation - Bankruptcy
  • Litigation - Environmental
  • Litigation - Intellectual Property
  • Litigation - Labor and Employment
  • Litigation - Mergers and Acquisitions
  • Litigation - Patent
  • Litigation - Real Estate
  • Litigation - Regulatory Enforcement (SEC, Telecom, Energy)
  • Litigation - Securities
  • Litigation - Trusts and Estates
  • Litigation and Controversy - Tax
  • Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants
  • Mergers and Acquisitions Law
  • Mutual Funds Law
  • Natural Resources Law
  • Oil and Gas Law
  • Private Funds / Hedge Funds Law
  • Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
  • Project Finance Law
  • Real Estate Law
  • Securities / Capital Markets Law
  • Securities Regulation
  • Securitization and Structured Finance Law
  • Sports Law
  • Tax Law
  • Trusts and Estates

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Adoption of “Emergency Bylaws” Continues


by Shenna N. Johnson, Benjamin R. Foster, and David Clark

The disruption to businesses stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic that took hold in 2020 prompted renewed focus on corporate governance under emergency conditions.

emergency-bylaws-in-delaware

A Global Approach to Settlement


by Bradley A. Klein, Gretchen M. Wolf, Mayra C. Suárez, and Peter Y. Cheun

The Department of Justice, in pursuit of companies whose transgressions cross borders, increasingly credits other countries’ fines to avoid “piling on.”

a-global-approach-to-settlement

Decisions, Decisions


by Boris Bershteyn

Leading cases on the Supreme Court’s 2018 business docket.

The Supreme Court's Top 2018 Cases

Skadden Advises Rite Aid in Sale of 2,186 Stores to Walgreens


by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom

Skadden is advising Rite Aid Corporation, which has entered into an asset purchase agreement with Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA)

Rite Aid Walgreens Cancelled Merger

Driven, Obsessed, and Loving Every Minute


by Susan K. Bozorgi

Cris Arguedas on defending the accused.

Driven Obsessed

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