 | |
| Headquarters | Prudential Tower Boston, Massachusetts United States |
|---|---|
| No. of offices | 13 |
| No. of attorneys | ~1,500 |
| Major practice areas |
|
| Key people |
|
| Revenue | $2.718 billion (2022)[2] |
| Date founded | 1865 |
| Founder | John Codman Ropes John Chipman Gray |
| Company type | Limited liability partnership |
| Website | ropesgray |
Ropes & Gray LLP is a global law firm with 13 offices located in the United States, Asia and Europe. The firm has more than 1,500 lawyers and professionals worldwide; its clients include corporations and financial institutions, government agencies, universities, and health care organizations. It was founded in 1865 in Boston by John Codman Ropes and John Chipman Gray.
History
The firm was founded in 1865 by two Harvard Law School graduates, John Codman Ropes and John Chipman Gray. In 1878, William Loring, also a Harvard graduate joined the firm, and it became "Ropes, Gray and Loring" until Loring's departure in 1899, when he was appointed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.[3][4] During that time, the firm represented the New York and New England Railroad.[3]
In 2003, the firm acquired New York City-based private equity law firm Reboul, MacMurray, Hewitt & Maynard.[5] In 2005, the firm acquired NYC-based intellectual property law firm Fish & Neave.[6]
In November 2023, amid a wave of antisemitic incidents at elite U.S. law schools, Ropes & Gray was one of a group of major law firms who sent a letter to top law school deans warning them that an escalation in incidents targeting Jewish student would have corporate hiring consequences. The letter said "We look to you to ensure your students who hope to join our firms after graduation are prepared to be an active part of workplace communities that have zero tolerance policies for any form of discrimination or harassment, much less the kind that has been taking place on some law school campuses."[7]
Prominent transactions
Ropes & Gray lawyers have advised on major transactions, including:
- Altimeter Growth Corp. in its merger to take Grab public for $39.6 billion, the largest special-purpose acquisition company merger in history[8][9]
- The acquisition by private equity firms Thomas H. Lee and Bain Capital of Clear Channel Communications, for $26 billion
- Bain Capital's and The Blackstone Group's acquisition of The Weather Channel, in a multibillion-dollar deal
- The sale of the Warner Music Group to Access Industries by private equity firms Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee, for $3.3 billion
- Genzyme's acquisition by Sanofi-Aventis, for $20.1 billion
- NSTAR's merger with Northeast Utilities, for $7.1 billion
- China Everbright's acquisition of Focus Media, for $3.7 billion
- TPG Capital's acquisition of J.Crew, for $3 billion
- A private equity group's acquisition of Dunkin' Donuts, for $2.4 billion
- Berkshire Partners acquisition of Lightower Fiber Networks and Sidera Networks, for $2 billion
- The Bare Escentuals merger with Shiseido of Japan, a $1.7 billion deal
- Bain Capital's acquisition of MYOB, Australia's largest financial software developer;[10]
- Bain Capital's acquisition of Bellsystem24[11]
- TPG Capital and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board's $5.2 billion acquisition of IMS Health Inc., a provider of market intelligence to the pharmaceutical and health care industries
- Genzyme Corporation's $2.9 billion deal with Bayer Schering Pharma AG that expanded Genzyme's oncology portfolio by giving the company rights to marketed cancer drugs and control of a program in multiple sclerosis. The transaction was recognized as a "Deal of Distinction" by the Licensing Executives Society in September 2010[12]
- Bain Capital's 2018 sale by Toshiba Corp. of its semiconductor business to a group that included Apple, Seagate, Kingston, Hoya, Dell Technologies and SK Hynix. The transaction was Asia's largest leveraged buyout and private equity deal ever, and was valued at approximately $18 billion[13]
- Nippon Steel Corporation's 2023 definitive agreement to purchase U.S. Steel for $14 billion. [14]
Prominent cases
Ropes & Gray lawyers have litigated high-profile cases, including:
- Defending physicians’ First Amendment rights in Wollschlaeger v. Governor of Florida. The case concerned a Florida law banning doctors from inquiring about patients’ gun ownership.[15]
- Representing Gawker in its Chapter 11 filing.[16]
- Leading a 10-month independent investigation for the U.S. Olympic Committee into sexual abuses by former USA Gymnastics national team doctor Larry Nassar.[17]
- Representing Willkie Farr & Gallagher (then) co-chairman Gordon Caplan, JD, who was arrested in March 2019 as a parent participant in the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal. Caplan is represented by firm partners Joshua Levy, co-chairman of global litigation and enforcement practice, and Michael McGovern, co-chairman of government enforcement practice.[18] A guilty plea deal in United States v. Gordon Caplan was filed by United States Attorney Andrew Lelling on March 27, 2019.[19][20] An Assistant United States Attorney prosecuting the case, Leslie Wright, is a Ropes & Gray alumna.[21]
- Representing Harris Associates in a seminal case for the mutual funds industry. In March 2010, the Supreme Court ruled in Jones v. Harris Associates, which definitively established the standard governing claims of excessive mutual fund fees under § 36(b) of the Investment Company Act of 1940.[22]
- Defending former BP engineer Kurt Mix against obstruction of justice charges related to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.[23]
Awards
The firm received five Law360 “Practice Group of the Year” awards for private equity, fund formation, securitizations, health care and white collar in 2019.[24]
Notable current and former attorneys
- Eleanor D. Acheson (associate 1974–83; partner, 1983–93), Amtrak executive and Assistant Attorney General of the United States
- Michael P. Allen, Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
- Mark Barnes (partner), activist, academic, former Chief Research Compliance Officer at Harvard University
- Marta Belcher (attorney), pioneer in the area of blockchain law
- Yochai Benkler (associate, 1994–95), professor at Harvard Law School
- Janis M. Berry (partner, 1986–97), Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court
- Eric Bjornlund, co-founder of Democracy International
- Stephen L. Braga (partner), criminal defense attorney known for successful pro bono representation of Martin Tankleff
- Levin H. Campbell, Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
- Jennifer Choe-Groves, Judge of the United States Court of International Trade
- John Demers (associate, 2000–03), United States Associate Attorney General for the United States Department of Justice National Security Division
- Robert C. Clark (associate, 1972–74), Dean of the Faculty of Law at Harvard University (1989–2003)
- Archibald Cox (associate, 1938–45), U.S. Solicitor General and special prosecutor for the Watergate scandal
- Lee M. Friedman (associate, 1895–97), lawyer and historian
- George S. Hawkins, general manager of the DC Water and Sewer Authority.
- Olin M. Jeffords, (associate, 1919–21), Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court,
- Henry Cabot Lodge, (associate, 1875–80), United States Senator from Massachusetts and chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
- George H. Lyman (associate), chairman of the Massachusetts Republican state committee and Collector of the Port of Boston
- R. Bradford Malt (chairman, 2004–19), sole trustee of Mitt Romney’s blind trusts during his tenure as Governor and two presidential campaigns.
- Diane Bemus Patrick (partner), First Lady of Massachusetts (2007–15)
- John Palfrey (associate, 2001–02), president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
- Elliot Richardson (associate, 1949–53, 1955–57; partner, 1961–65), U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare (1970–73), U.S. Secretary of Defense (1973), U.S. Attorney General (1973), U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom (1975–76), and U.S. Secretary of Commerce (1976–77)
- John Richardson (1911–1970s; hiring partner), Republican National Committeeman from Massachusetts (1932–36)
- Charles Soule, comic book writer for Marvel Comics
- Clayton Spencer (partner, 1986–1989), president of Bates College
- Christopher Taylor (associate) Mayor of Ann Arbor since 2014.
- James Vorenberg (associate, 1954–60; partner, 1960–62), Dean of the Faculty of Law, Harvard University (1981–89).
- Jane Willis (partner), member of the MIT Blackjack Team fictionalized in Bringing Down the House and 21
See also
References
- ↑ "AKHIL SETHI". Ropes & Gray. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
- ↑ "Ropes %26 Gray". Law.com. July 27, 2022.
- 1 2 "William Caleb Loring, Associate Justice memorial, 277 Mass. 589 (1931)". Government of Massachusetts. 1931. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
- ↑ "Justice Loring Dies In Home At Age of 79", Fitchburg Sentinel (September 8, 1930), p. 1, 5.
- ↑ "Company Briefs". The New York Times. May 3, 2003. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
- ↑ S, Brenda; November 09, burg |; AM, 2004 at 12:00. "Fish & Neave to Combine with Ropes & Gray". Law.com. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ↑ Sorkin, Andrew Ross; Mattu, Ravi; Warner, Bernhard; Kessler, Sarah; Merced, Michael J. de la; Hirsch, Lauren; Livni, Ephrat (November 2, 2023). "Law Firms Warn Universities About Antisemitism on Campus". The New York Times. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
- ↑ "Ropes & Gray Advises Altimeter in Nearly $40 billion Merger to Take Grab Holdings Public". ropesgray.com. April 13, 2021.
- ↑ "SoftBank-backed Grab agrees to deal to go public in world's largest SPAC merger". cnbc.com. April 13, 2021.
- ↑ Michael Smith and Stephen Aldred (August 21, 2011). "Bain snaps up Australian tech firm MYOB for $1.3 billion". Reuters.
- ↑ "Nasdaq". Nasdaq. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
- ↑ "IP Watchdog, Sept. 30, 2010". Ipwatchdog.com. September 30, 2010. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
- ↑ "Ropes & Gray Can Breathe Easy With Toshiba Deal Sealed". Law360. August 17, 2018.
- ↑ https://investors.ussteel.com/news-events/news-releases/detail/659/nippon-steel-corporation-nsc-to-acquire-u-s-steel
- ↑ "Wollschlaeger v. Governor of Fla". Casetext. February 16, 2017.
- ↑ "Gawker Turns To Tireless Ropes & Gray Atty For Ch. 11 Rescue". Law360. June 10, 2016.
- ↑ "Top U.S.O.C. Officials Failed to Act on Nassar Allegations, Report Says". The New York Times. December 10, 2018.
- ↑ "Gordon Caplan Set to Appear Alongside Lori Loughlin in College Admissions Case | The American Lawyer".
- ↑ dal-probe/ "Caplan's Plea Deal With Prosecutors Calls for Prison Time", by Jack Newsham, The American Lawyer, April 8, 2019. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
- ↑ Andrew E. Lelling , U.S. Department of Justice, District of Massachusetts,March 27, 2019. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
- ↑ "Meet the Big Law Alums Prosecuting the College Admissions Scandal", by Mike Scarcella and Nate Robson, March 13, 2019. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
- ↑ "Jones et. al. v. Harris Associates L.P." (PDF). Retrieved January 28, 2012.
- ↑ "Charges Dropped Against Deepwater Horizon Engineer". The Maritime Executive. November 10, 2015.
- ↑ "Law360 Names Practice Groups Of The Year". Law360. January 12, 2020.
External links
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