Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson
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| Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP | |
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| Headquarters | New York City |
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| No. of Offices | 7 |
| No. of Attorneys | more than 600 |
| Major Practice Areas | General practice |
| Date Founded | |
| Company Type | Limited liability partnership |
| Website | www.ffhsj.com |
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP is an international law firm with offices in New York City, Washington, DC, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Hong Kong and Shanghai. The firm has approximately more than 600 attorneys worldwide.
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[edit] History
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson traces its origins back nearly a century to the predecessor firms of Riegelman & Bach, Riegelman Hess & Strasser and Strasser Spiegelberg Fried and Frank.
In 1971, the firm took its current form with name partners Walter Fried, Hans Frank, Sam Harris, Sargent Shriver and Leslie Jacobson. The Washington, DC office was opened in 1949.
The London office was one of the first European offices of a U.S. law firm. Efforts to merge with an established UK law firm have been unsuccessful. Fried Frank was engaged in extensive talks with UK giant Ashurst Morris Crisp, but the proposed merger never reached fruition. The Paris office followed in 1993. A Frankfurt office was established in 2004. The three European offices tend to focus on international corporate transactions. In December 2006, the firm opened its Hong Kong office, raiding the Hong Kong and Shanghai offices of the London based international firm Simmons & Simmons, and recruiting from their Hong Kong office their greater China managing partner, Huen Wong and a number of other key partners. In order to fulfill the Law Society of Hong Kong requirements where a foreign law firm must associate itself with a local firm for at least 3 years before it can use its own name independently, Huen Wong founded a local firm under the name of Huen Wong & Co., and associated itself with Fried Frank. The firm officially launched its seventh office in October 2007, in Shanghai .
More than thirty years after its founding, the firm, thanks in large part to current Chairperson Valerie Ford Jacob, can truly call itself "international".
[edit] Practice
The New York office has established practices in public M&A and private equity; domestic and international capital markets and complex financings; asset management; corporate governance; securities regulation, compliance and enforcement; corporate reorganization, bankruptcy and debt restructuring; antitrust; intellectual property and technology; securities and shareholder litigation; white-collar crime; commercial litigation; real estate; benefits and compensation; tax; and trusts and estates.
The Washington office has practices in corporate transactions, in addition to securities regulation and enforcement, antitrust, tax, intellectual property and technology, commercial litigation, government contracts, arbitration and alternative dispute resolution, and white-collar crime and internal investigations.
As a whole, the firm has a major corporate practice, and from January 1, 2002 through the second quarter of 2006, represented clients in over 410 public merger and acquisition and private equity transactions with a combined value of over $1 trillion.
Fried Frank is well known for its securities and shareholder litigation practices in the United States, and has served as defense counsel in major class actions and securities litigation. The firm has an established white-collar practice, representing clients in many of the major internal investigations and securities enforcement matters in recent years.
Fried Frank's real estate practice is predominant in New York City, and the firm handles many of the largest transactions involving commercial office space.
[edit] Main achievements
- For the period January 1, 2002 through the third quarter of 2006, the firm represented clients in over 440 public merger and acquisition and private equity transactions totaling over $1 trillion.
- The firm also advised clients in more than 240 public and private debt and equity offerings with an aggregate value of over $69 billion during that period.
- The firm has one of the leading securities and shareholder litigation practices in the United States, serving as defense counsel in numerous class actions and other securities litigation, including derivative actions, across the full spectrum of fiduciary duty and corporate governance issues.
- The firm has represented clients in many of the major internal investigations and securities enforcement matters in recent years. The white-collar criminal defense and civil litigation practice has been involved in many of the highest-profile corporate representations over the last two decades.
- The firm has represented all of the major investment banking firms and broker-dealers, each of the Big Four accounting firms and many of the largest insurance companies of the world in securities regulation, compliance and corporate governance matters.
- The firm has an established antitrust practice that is capable of advising and representing clients on the full range of issues arising out of global transactions and multijurisdictional investigations.
- The firm has represented clients in hundreds of bankruptcy and restructuring engagements entailing billions of dollars of restructured liabilities. Clients have included companies with complex capital structures experiencing financial difficulties, major secured and unsecured creditors, creditor committees, equity holders, debtor-in-possession lenders and purchasers of financially distressed companies.
- The firm has represented clients in major patent and other intellectual property litigations as well as in connection with acquisitions, divestitures, development, exploitation, procurement, alliance, outsourcing, licensing, and similar agreements involving rights in intellectual property.
- The firm's real estate practice handles some of the largest leasing, acquisition and sales transactions in major U.S. financial markets, as well as internationally.
[edit] What others say
- “One of the most sophisticated financial law firms in the United States.” (Business Week)
- “One of the top notch firms… known for ‘heavy corporate matters – crown jewels stuff.’” (Chambers Global)
- “Top notch in terms of public company M&A….” (Chambers USA)
- One of top twenty firms on The American Lawyer’s A – List.
- One of top twenty firms in The American Lawyer’s pro bono rankings.
[edit] Representative clients
AEA, American Express, ANC Rental Aquila, Banc of America Securities, Bear Stearns, Bell South, Chevron, CommScope, CS First Boston, Delta & Pine Land, Deutsche Bank, Dial, Dow Jones, El Paso, First Union Securities, GE Capital, Goldman Sachs, Humana, Invensys, JP Morgan Chase, Lazard Frères, Lloyd’s, Merck, Merrill Lynch, Microsoft, MGM, Morgan Stanley, NTL, Northrop Grumman, NYSE, ONEOK, Panksa, Permira, Procter & Gamble, Salomon Smith Barney, Sara Lee, Televisa, TIAA, Tishman Speyer Properties, Tracinda, UBS, Paine Webber, Urenco
[edit] Pro bono
Fried Frank has been honored for its pro bono work and was listed as one of the top twenty firms in the United States for pro bono by The American Lawyer. The firm has worked on behalf of such organizations as the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the Children’s Defense Fund, the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, the Legal Aid Society, Legal Counsel for the Elderly, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Veterans Pro Bono Consortium.
