There’s no shortage of opinions about the antitrust group at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. Some people think it’s one of Biglaw’s most underrated antitrust practices, while other people think it’s one of the most overrated.
Regardless of what opinion you hold of CWT’s antitrust group, that opinion will need to change. The practice’s rainmaking leader and three fellow partners are taking their talents to Paul, Weiss. Here’s a report from Casey Sullivan of Big Law Business:
Four antitrust partners in Washington, D.C. whose clients include Microsoft and Cigna, are leaving Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft to join Paul, Weiss Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.
Leading the group is Charles “Rick” Rule, the head of Cadwalader’s antitrust group, chair of the firm’s litigation department and managing partner of its Washington, D.C. office, according to a Paul Weiss announcement on Thursday.
The three others: Jonathan Kanter, Joseph Bial and Andrew Forman, all of whom practice in D.C.
Rule will become co-chair of Paul Weiss’s antitrust group, the firm said.
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Rule previously served as Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division (and was the youngest person to lead the Antitrust Division at the time of his appointment 30 years ago). His clients include Microsoft, which he’s advising on the $26.2 billion LinkedIn acquisition, and Cigna, which he’s advising on its $48 billion merger with Anthem.
One can see why Rick Rule and his colleagues would be in high demand, given recent government zeal in antitrust enforcement. As PW chair Brad Karp told the New York Times:
Given the intense regulatory scrutiny of strategic M.&A. transactions and the heightened focus on antitrust enforcement, trends highly likely to continue, we are thrilled to be able to add a marquee merger-clearance team and elite antitrust litigators, led by Rick Rule. This opportunity takes full advantage of our market-leading litigation and public M.&A. practices.
So it seems that Paul, Weiss remains on a lateral hiring spree; recall its headline-making hires of M&A star Scott Barshay, from Cravath, and leading litigator David Bernick, from Dechert. Brad Karp said in June that PW might be taking a bit of a breather from lateral hiring, but it seems that day has yet to come. And given its recent success on that front, backed by strong financials (profits per partner over $4 million, #3 in the Am Law 100), one can see why it would want to maintain momentum.
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What do the defections mean for Cadwalader? Some thoughts from Julie Triedman of Law.com:
Washington, D.C.-based Rule, a longtime member of Cadwalader’s seven-member management committee, was named the firm’s litigation chair just last month. For nearly the past two years, the firm had been struggling with poor financial performance and an exodus of litigation talent, but its leaders recently said it had turned a corner.
In large part, said one partner, that was due to Rule. His recent work defending Cigna Corp. in an antitrust showdown with the U.S. Department of Justice over its proposed tie-up with Anthem Inc. “was the reason that Cadwalader was profitable as of April 1 this year,” said one Cadwalader partner, asking not to be identified. The DOJ sued to block the deal on July 22, suggesting that work may only intensify.
Last year, Rule was the highest paid partner at Cadwalader, earning $3.5 million, the partner said. Rule, who left a position at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson as chair of the antitrust practice for Cadwalader in 2007, was the main reason that Cadwalader opened a Brussels outpost in 2011.
It’s interesting that Rule topped the CWT partner pay scale with comp of “only” $3.5 million. Per Am Law, the firm has profits per partner of just over $2 million, so it seems to have a fairly low partner pay spread.
As alluded to by Am Law, Cadwalader has experienced some financial challenges and lateral losses lately (such as the litigators who left for Greenberg Traurig in the spring, amid reports of litigation slowness at CWT). It has also had some leadership shake-ups in the past two years.
In a firm-wide email about the antitrust partner departures (posted in full on the next page), managing partner Pat Quinn had this to say:
Quinn’s focus on “our Firm, and our opportunities” — emphasis in the original — struck some of our sources as a little defensive. As one tipster told us, “While I actually really like working here, it’s worrisome to get an email that says, ‘We’re great! Don’t worry!'”
Will that greatness continue, as Cadwalader moves deeper into its third century of existence? We’ll keep an eye on goings-on at CWT. If you have any info to share, feel free to reach out by email or by text message (646-820-8466). Thanks.
Top. D.C. Antitrust Lawyers to Leave Cadwalader [Big Law Business]
Paul Weiss Hires Cadwalader Rainmaker Rick Rule [Law.com]
Paul, Weiss Hires 4 Partners to Bolster Antitrust Practice [DealBook / New York Times]
Paul, Weiss Adds Four Prominent Antitrust Lawyers [Paul, Weiss (press release)]
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David Lat is the founder and managing editor of Above the Law and the author of Supreme Ambitions: A Novel. You can connect with David on Twitter (@DavidLat), LinkedIn, and Facebook, and you can reach him by email at [email protected].