Thanks To A Mandatory Retirement Policy, Skadden’s First Female M&A Partner Left For Mayer Brown, And Now She’s Ready For Much More

“Concrete jungle where dreams are made of / There’s nothing you can’t do / Now you’re in New York / These streets will make you feel brand new / Big lights will inspire you / Let’s hear it for New York…” — Alicia Keys & Jay-Z

This week, I had the opportunity to chat with Martha McGarry, a renowned M&A lawyer who recently joined Mayer Brown LLP’s New York office from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.

Over the past four decades, Martha has advised on numerous high-profile and transformational transactions, including General Motors in its acquisition of EDS; American Express in the sale of American Express Bank to Standard Chartered; and Coca-Cola in its purchase of Coca-Cola Enterprises, transactions involving Vitamin Water, Honest Tea, Keurig Green Mountain and Monster Beverage; as well as the 2009 CIT historic prepackaged bankruptcy restructuring, among many other notable deals.

McGarry is a past recipient of the New York Law Journal Lifetime Achievement Award — honoring attorneys who “have made an impact on the legal community and the practice of law over an entire career.” To be sure, she’s been an impressive attorney and an incredible dealmaker throughout her career. But she’s not done yet, not even close. McGarry plans to embark on the next phase of her legal journey with the same zest and zeal she’s displayed over the past 40 years. We covered her upcoming chapter and a bit more during our discussion this week.

Without further ado, here is a (lightly edited and condensed) write-up of our conversation.

Renwei Chung: Congratulations on joining Mayer Brown LLP. What prompted this partnership and how did you choose the firm?

Martha McGarry: After a very happy 43-year career at Skadden, I was facing age-based mandatory retirement at the end of the year. Mayer Brown had a number of impressive attributes, many that reminded me of Skadden, including the same global footprint; the excellent, broad, and deep regulatory bench, which is critical for supporting public company transactions; the high caliber of lawyers per capita; and the highly collaborative culture. I was struck by the collegiality of the partners.

RC: What are you most looking forward to in the next phase of your career journey?

MC: As the co-leader of the M&A practice at Mayer Brown I’m energized by the prospect of bringing my knowledge and deep experience in the field to help build the public company M&A practice and open up a whole new dimension for the firm.

RC: It sounds like that even from an early age you knew you wanted to be an attorney, and the Vietnam War made quite an impression on you and your career aspirations as well. Can you expound on this?

MC: Experiencing my formative years during the Vietnam era undoubtedly had an impact on my desire to become a lawyer. I think half my college class applied to law school! We saw how lawyers could make a difference. I knew then that I wanted to be a lawyer.

RC: My father worked for Ross Perot’s Electronic Data Systems Corp. when they were acquired by General Motors in 1984, which brought our family to Michigan from California. I would love to hear your thoughts on that acquisition and the dealmaking environment of the 1980s in general.

MC: The 1980s was one of the greatest decades for deals ever. There were so many innovations in the way deals were done. For example, in the course of representing GM in acquiring EDS, the concept of a “lettered stock” — a stock the financial characteristics of which were based exclusively on the division being acquired — was invented and used for the first time. It required us to secure accounting changes at the SEC and NYSE. Shareholder rights plans were also introduced during that decade and had a huge impact on hostile tender offers.

RC: In terms of dealmaking, you had mentioned the 1980s was the Wild West, the 1990s and 2000s were a roller coaster, and this decade will be defined by the pandemic. What will you remember most about the COVID-19 era?

MC: I will remember having to be adaptive and handle international deals virtually across many countries and time zones and having that work out fine as a substitute for being in the same conference room. I will also remember the personal impact of the virus on so many lives, and on supply chains and manufacturing for so many sectors of our economy.

RC: What advice do you have for law students and young attorneys?

MC: It’s important to realize that careers are made over many years, during which there are ups and downs. Try to be philosophical and realize you are obtaining something valuable from each phase of your career.

RC: Why do you believe it is critical to nurture a diversified network and retain a wide variety of contacts?

MC: Value your family, work, and client relationships. Embrace the opportunity to meet the widest network of people you can, whether through work or your outside interests and stay in touch with them. They will enrich your life.

RC: You are currently on the board of the Morgan Library and Museum. And you have served on the board of many other significant cultural institutions, including the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center and the Metropolitan Opera Guild. Why is it important to you to give back and pursue such labors of love outside of the workplace?

MC: They reflect a genuine interest in areas outside my practice and have exposed me to enormously talented people with skills very different than the practice of law.

RC: You also co-founded and served on the board of W.O.M.E.N. in America, a professional development and mentoring organization for promising young female leaders in business. Can you tell us more about this organization?

MC: The organization emerged from a group of CEOs meeting each other at the Fortune Most Powerful Women in Business Conference. We decided we wanted to stay in touch and “give back” in some way. So we founded the organization to help mentor other professional women in their fields.

RC: What did it mean for you to be the first woman to make partner in the M&A practice at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in 2004?

MC: I was thrilled but I was just the beginning. Many other women have been made M&A partners at Skadden in the subsequent years.

RC: On behalf of everyone here at Above the Law, I would like to thank Martha McGarry for sharing her story with our audience. We wish her continued success throughout her career.

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Renwei Chung is the Diversity Columnist at Above the Law. You can contact him by email at [email protected], follow him on Twitter (@fnfour), or connect with him on LinkedIn.