Debevoise & Plimpton

Debevoise & Plimpton
Headquarters 919 Third Avenue
New York City
United States
No. of offices 9 Total
No. of attorneys 615 (2015)
Major practice areas Mergers and acquisitions, litigation and arbitration, corporate finance, corporate restructuring, securities law, banking, project finance, energy and infrastructure, antitrust, tax and intellectual property, among others[1]
Key people Michael W. Blair Presiding Partner
Revenue Increase $757 million (2015)[2]
Date founded 1931
Company type L.L.P.
Website
www.debevoise.com

Debevoise & Plimpton LLP (often shortened to Debevoise) is an international law firm based in New York City. Founded in 1931 by Harvard Law School alumnus Eli Whitney Debevoise and Oxford-trained William Stevenson, Debevoise has long been an established leader in strategic and private equity, M&A, insurance and financial services transactions, private funds, complex litigation, investigations and international arbitration.

Debevoise is consistently ranked as one of the most prestigious law firms in the world, one of New York's most powerful law firms[3] and has been described as very much the "Gentleman of the world of Big Law".[4]

Overview

Debevoise & Plimpton currently employs approximately 615 lawyers in nine offices throughout the world. The firm divides its practices into three major areas: Corporate, Litigation and Tax. In recent years, the firm's practice has taken on an increasingly international component.

Debevoise is the only law firm in the world to have both a former US and UK Attorney-General simultaneously as partners (Michael Mukasey in the U.S. and Lord Goldsmith QC in the U.K.).[4]

Offices

Debevoise & Plimpton has a network of nine offices spanning three continents. This includes offices in New York City, Washington D.C., London, Paris, Frankfurt, Moscow, Hong Kong and Shanghai. In 2016, Debevoise opened a new office in Tokyo.[5]

Reputation and rankings

Debevoise & Plimpton is consistently among the most profitable large law firms in the world on a per-partner and per-lawyer basis according to American Lawyer magazine's annual AmLaw 100 Survey. Debevoise placed No. 1 overall in The American Lawyer's "10-Year A-List," a ranking of the law firms who have earned the highest cumulative score on the A-List since its inception in 2003. The annual A-List ranks firms according to their performance in four categories: revenue per lawyer, pro bono service, associate satisfaction and diversity.[6]

The firm has been regarded in branche-internal polls as one of the most prestigious firms to work for (in New York[7] and globally[8]), and ranks among the most elite[9] and successful firms globally.[10]

The firm and its lawyers have also been recognized in various other surveys, including Vault.com’s 2011 review of the 20 Best Law Firms to Work For.

More information about the firm's recent representations, announcements and accolades may be found here.

Milestones

2000s

In the 2000s, Debevoise & Plimpton was mentioned several times on the TV show The West Wing. In the show, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman's father was a partner at Debevoise. Additionally, an assistant attorney general in the show was a summer associate at Debevoise, and a prospective White House counsel candidate was interviewing for a position as an associate at Debevoise.

Badri Patarkatsishvili

The controversial Georgian businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili spent six hours of his final day at the offices of Debevoise & Plimpton, meeting his lawyer Lord Goldsmith QC, shortly before being driven to Boris Berezovsky's office in Mayfair and then to his country mansion in Leatherhead, Surrey, where he collapsed and died of a heart attack at the age of 52.

Assistance to Guantanamo prisoners

Attorneys from Debevoise & Plimpton worked on behalf of prisoners held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.[13][14][15] Jeff Lang, of Debevoise & Plimpton, was one of the first Guantanamo Bay attorneys to file an appeal in the Federal appeal court in Washington DC of prisoners' Combatant Status Review Tribunal proceedings. The Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 included provision for prisoners to challenge whether the Tribunals' decisions complied with the Tribunal's mandate. Charles "Cully" Stimson, then Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs, stirred controversy when he went on record criticizing the patriotism of law firms that allowed employees to assist Guantanamo prisoners: "corporate CEOs seeing this should ask firms to choose between lucrative retainers and representing terrorists."[16] Stimson's views were widely criticized. The Pentagon disavowed them, and Stimson resigned shortly thereafter.

2010s

Defending Take-Two

Debevoise & Plimpton has the lead role in defending Take-Two Interactive Software against a lawsuit filed by actress Lindsay Lohan. In the lawsuit Lohan claims that Take-Two Interactive Software is in breach of her image rights after it based a character in Grand Theft Auto V without her consent. Claiming unspecified damages on privacy grounds, citing an "unequivocal" similarity between herself and the game's character "Lacey Jonas", alleging that her voice and items from her clothing label were lifted by the Take-Two Interactive.[17] In response Take-Two Interactive has accused Lohan of suing in order to gain publicity, and characterizes her claim as "legally meritless."[17]

See also

References

  1. "Practices - Debevoise & Plimpton".
  2. http://www.americanlawyer.com/law-firm-profiles-result?firmname=Debevoise+%26+Plimpton&slreturn=20160512112626. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. "Debevoise & Plimpton LLP|Company Profile|Vault.com". Vault. Retrieved 2016-06-12.
  4. 1 2 http://www.chambers-associate.com/Law/FirmFeature/3835
  5. "Debevoise Opens in Tokyo". Debevoise. Retrieved 2016-06-12.
  6. http://www.vault.com/company-profiles/law/debevoise-plimpton-llp/company-overview.aspx
  7. http://www.vault.com/company-rankings/law/best-law-firms-in-each-us-region/?sRankID=9
  8. http://www.vault.com/company-rankings/law/vault-law-100
  9. http://www.chambersandpartners.com/usa/firm/3835/debevoise-plimpton
  10. http://www.americanlawyer.com/id=1202571228982/The-2012-Global-100-Most-Revenue
  11. http://www.alm.com/about/pr/releases/american-lawyer-names-debevoise-plimpton-litigation-department-year
  12. "Debevoise Plimpton History". Funding Universe. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  13. Shayana Kadidal (May 16, 2007). "Getting Rid of Lawyers at Guantanamo: An Update". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2008-01-19.
  14. "The Pro Bono Tradition at Debevoise". Debevoise & Plimpton. Retrieved 2008-01-19.
  15. Emma Schwartz (May 15, 2007). "The Latest Guantanamo Debate". Legal Times. Retrieved 2008-01-19.
  16. Lewis, Neil (2007-01-13). "Official attacks top law firms over detainees". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-01-17.
  17. 1 2 Cash, Justin. "Debevoise takes on Lindsay Lohan in Grand Theft Auto court battle". Legal Week. Incisive Financial Publishing. Retrieved 16 September 2014.

External links

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