Ropes & Gray

Ropes & Gray LLP is a global law firm with 11 offices located in the United States, Asia and Europe. The firm has more than 1,400 lawyers and professionals worldwide, and its clients include corporations and financial institutions, government agencies, universities, and health care organizations. It was founded in 1865 in Boston, Massachusetts by John Codman Ropes and John Chipman Gray.

Ropes & Gray LLP
HeadquartersPrudential Tower
Boston, Massachusetts
United States
No. of offices11
No. of attorneys~1,400
Major practice areas
  • Private equity
  • Asset management
  • Health care & life sciences
  • Mergers & acquisitions
  • Litigation
Key people
  • Julie Jones
  • (Chair)
  • David Djaha
  • (Managing Partner)
  • Akhil Sethi
  • (Chief Operating Officer)
[1]
Revenue$1.9 billion (2020)[2]
Date founded1865
FounderJohn Codman Ropes
John Chipman Gray
Company typeLimited liability partnership
Websitewww.ropesgray.com

The firm's major practice areas include private equity, mergers & acquisitions, intellectual property, complex business litigation, securities litigation, health care, life sciences, bankruptcy and business restructuring, government enforcement and white collar crime, privacy & data security, investment management, hedge funds, antitrust, employee benefits, tax, and real estate. The firm is active in several industries, including private equity, life sciences, health care, asset management, TMT (technology, media & telecommunications) and retail.

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 period, 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 New York-based intellectual property law firm Fish & Neave.[6]

Operations

The firm has offices in Boston, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, New York, San Francisco, Seoul, Shanghai, Silicon Valley, Tokyo and Washington, D.C.

Prominent transactions

Ropes & Gray lawyers have advised on major transactions, including:

  • 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;[7]
  • Bain Capital’s acquisition of Bellsystem24[8]
  • 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[9]
  • 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[10]

Prominent cases

Ropes & Gray lawyers have litigated high-profile cases, including:

  • 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.[18]

Public Service

Ropes & Gray attorneys provide public service in the form of pro bono legal work, community service and charitable donations. Notable pro bono cases include:

  • Nunez v. City of New York, a lawsuit seeking to end inmate abuse at Rikers Island in New York City.[21]
  • Exonerating John Huffington, who was imprisoned for 32 years for a 1981 double murder that he did not commit, in State of Maryland v. Huffington.[22]

Diversity and inclusion

  • The firm’s Roscoe Trimmier Jr. Diversity Scholarship offers $25,000 and a summer associate position to second-year law students who are members of populations historically underrepresented in the legal profession.[23]

Awards

  • Received five Law360 “Practice Group of the Year” awards for private equity, fund formation, securitizations, health care and white collar in 2019.[24]

Miscellaneous

In late 2010, the firm's Boston office moved to the top office floors of the Prudential Tower in the Back Bay neighborhood.

Notable current and former attorneys

See also

References

  1. "AKHIL SETHI". Ropes & Gray. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  2. "Ropes & Gray". Law.com. March 13, 2020.
  3. "William Caleb Loring, Associate Justice memorial, 277 Mass. 589 (1931)". Government of Massachusetts. 1931. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
  4. "Justice Loring Dies In Home At Age of 79", Fitchburg Sentinel (September 8, 1930), p. 1, 5.
  5. "Company Briefs". The New York Times. May 3, 2003. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  6. S, Brenda; November 09, burg |; AM, 2004 at 12:00. "Fish & Neave to Combine with Ropes & Gray". Law.com. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  7. Michael Smith and Stephen Aldred (August 21, 2011). "Bain snaps up Australian tech firm MYOB for $1.3 billion". Reuters.
  8. "Nasdaq". Nasdaq. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
  9. "IP Watchdog, Sept. 30, 2010". Ipwatchdog.com. September 30, 2010. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
  10. "Ropes & Gray Can Breathe Easy With Toshiba Deal Sealed". Law360. August 17, 2018.
  11. "Wollschlaeger v. Governor of Fla". Casetext. February 16, 2017.
  12. "Gawker Turns To Tireless Ropes & Gray Atty For Ch. 11 Rescue". Law360. June 10, 2016.
  13. "Top U.S.O.C. Officials Failed to Act on Nassar Allegations, Report Says". The New York Times. December 10, 2018.
  14. https://www.law.com/americanlawyer/2019/03/21/gordon-caplan-set-to-appear-in-court-alongside-lori-loughlin-in-college-admissions-case/
  15. 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.
  16. Andrew E. Lelling , U.S. Department of Justice, District of Massachusetts,March 27, 2019. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  17. "Meet the Big Law Alums Prosecuting the College Admissions Scandal", by Mike Scarcella and Nate Robson, March 13, 2019. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  18. "Jones et. al. v. Harris Associates L.P." (PDF). Retrieved January 28, 2012.
  19. "Charges Dropped Against Deepwater Horizon Engineer". The Maritime Executive. November 10, 2015.
  20. "Meet the lawyers who will argue the gay marriage case". CNN. April 27, 2015.
  21. "Judge Approves Settlement of Suit on Rikers Island Brutality". The New York Times. October 21, 2015.
  22. "John Huffington enters Alford plea in 1981 Harford double-murder case, likely to go free". The Baltimore Sun. November 9, 2017.
  23. "In the News". Chicago Daily Law Bulletin. August 17, 2015.
  24. "Law360 Names Practice Groups Of The Year". Law360. January 12, 2020.
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