| Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | New York City |
| No. of offices | 3 |
| No. of attorneys | about 375 |
| Major practice areas | General practice |
| Revenue | £293m (2009) |
| Date founded | 1968 (New York City) |
| Founder | Arthur Kramer |
| Company type | LLP |
| Website | |
| www.kramerlevin.com | |
Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP is a law firm with offices in New York City, Silicon Valley and Paris.
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The Firm was founded in 1968 in New York under the name Kramer, Lowenstein, Nessen & Kamin.[1] Founding members include Arthur B. Kramer, Louis Lowenstein, Maurice Nessen, and Sherwin Kamin.
When Eugene Nickerson, a descendant of President John Adams, joined the firm, its name changed to Nickerson, Kramer, Lowenstein, Nessen & Kamin. The firm's current name, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, emerged as a result of personnel changes over a number of years, including Nickerson leaving to join the federal bench of the Eastern District of New York, Lou Lowenstein joining the faculty of Columbia Law School, Gary P. Naftalis becoming a name partner, and Marvin E. Frankel, the former Southern District of New York judge, joining the Firm.
Kramer Levin also has an office in Paris, France which it acquired in 1999 from the legacy US firm Rogers & Wells which did not want to merge with the rest of the firm to London-based Clifford Chance. The firm maintains strong relationships with other firms throughout the world. Kramer Levin was the exclusive US referral firm to UK firm Berwin Leighton Paisner from 2000–2007, when the alliance was changed to "preferred firm" status[2] meaning the two will still collaborate but without exclusive referrals.
In September 2011, Kramer Levin opened its Silicon Valley office, expanding on already well-regarded intellectual property practice.
As of 2011, after careful and deliberate growth, the Firm had nearly 375 lawyers, with 20+ practices including in the areas of white-collar defense, securities litigation, corporate, real estate and land use, intellectual property, Lanham Act litigation, business immigration, employment law, financial services, tax, trust and estates and bankruptcy, some of which are among the strongest in the country. The co-heads of the White Collar practice is Gary Naftalis and Barry Berke.
The firm is well-known for its active pro bono program, currently co-chaired by James Grayer and Eric Tirschwell. The firm famously challenged New York State's Domestic Relations law and served with Lambda Legal as co-counsel petitioning the New York Court of Appeals to recognize the rights of same-sex couples to marry. This legal challenge was successful.