Willkie Farr & Gallagher

File:WBHornblower.PNG (1851–1914)]]

The firm was founded in 1888, with four lawyers.[https://www.willkie.com/about-us "About Us"] The firm started as Wall Street law firm Hornblower & Byrne, which was founded by William B. Hornblower and James Byrne, and was located at 280 Broadway in New York City. Hornblower was a prominent ally of President Grover Cleveland and rose to serve as President of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, as well as sit as a judge on the New York Court of Appeals.Brian Dalton. [https://books.google.com/books?id=7jY8AQAAIAAJ&q=willkie+farr+%22hornblower%22+grover Vault Guide to the Top 100 Law Firms]

Early clients in the 1890s included the New York Life Insurance Company; the New York Securities and Trust Company (later the New York Trust Company); The Rome, Watertown, Ogdensburg and Parsons Railroad; Grant & Ward, a brokerage firm partnership between ex-President Ulysses S. Grant and Ferdinand Ward; the Otis Elevator Company; the United States Ship Building Company; and Thomas A. Edison.

File:Frankfurter-Felix-LOC.jpg]]

Two associates, Felix Frankfurter (who started his legal career at the firm in 1906) and Charles Evans Hughes, have served as Justices of the US Supreme Court, with Hughes serving as Chief Justice.

Two partners have served as American Bar Association President. The first was Charles A. Boston (who became an associate at the firm in 1901 when it was Hornblower, Byrne, Miller & Potter) in 1930–31. He was followed by Harold J. Gallagher (who initially joined the firm in 1917 when it was Hornblower, Miller & Garrison) in 1949–50.[https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/abaj21&div=85&id=&page= "Charles A. Boston, 1863-1935 In Memoriam,"] 21 American Bar Association Journal 1935.[https://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/28/obituaries/hj-gallagher-86-willkie-associate.html "H.J. GALLAGHER, 86, WILLKIE ASSOCIATE,"] The New York Times.

In 1931, the firm merged with the law firm of Miller, Otis and Farr. At that point, in total the firm had 12 partners and 24 associates, making it one of New York's larger firms. In 1939, the firm hired its first female associate, Mary MacDonagh.[http://www.willkie.com/about-us/firm-history "Firm History"]

File:Wendell Willkie cph.3a38684.jpg]]

In January 1940 Harold J. Gallagher, one of the most influential partners in the history of the firm, extended an offer to Wendell Willkie to join the firm then known as Miller, Boston & Owen. This was several months before Willkie received the Republican nomination for president."Veteran Lawyer recalls Wilkie's '40 campaign," The Hawk Eye, Page 3, August 24, 1972 After losing the presidential election to the incumbent FDR, Willkie joined the firm and became a partner in 1941.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1941/04/17/archives/willkie-returning-to-the-practice-of-law-as-senior-partner-of-a-new.html |title=Willkie Returning to the Practice of Law As Senior Partner of a New York Firm |newspaper=The New York Times |date=April 17, 1941 }} The firm's name was changed a year later to Willkie, Owen, Otis & Bailly, and later to Willkie, Owen, Otis, Farr & Gallagher.George Derby, James Terry White (1945). [https://books.google.com/books?id=nDEOAQAAMAAJ&q=willkie+farr The National Cyclopædia of American Biography: Being the History of the United States as Illustrated in the Lives of the Founders, Builders, and Defenders of the Republic, and of the Men and Women who are Doing the Work and Moulding the Thought of the Present Time,] Volume 32. Willkie later became F.D.R.'s personal envoy to many countries, promoting the Lend-Lease program. He later wrote a book about his travels entitled One World, a plea for global cooperation and peacekeeping.[https://www.willkie.com/~/media/Files/Publications/2017/05/Stebbins_PR.pdf "WILLKIE PARTNER ROBERT STEBBINS NAMED GENERAL COUNSEL OF THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION"] In 1947, his estate's interest in the law firm was valued at $125,000 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|125000|1947|r=-3}}}} in current dollar terms).[https://books.google.com/books?id=T_AhAQAAIAAJ&q=willkie+farr Trusts and Estates,] Volumes 84-85, 1947. That year, the customary hourly rate of a Willkie partner was $50 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|50|1947|r=-2}}}} in current dollar terms) an hour.[https://books.google.com/books?id=57AyAAAAIAAJ&q=willkie+farr+partners+associates+%22new+york%22 Federal Supplement: Cases Argued and Determined in the District Courts of the United States and the Court of Claims, with Key Number Annotations,] Volume 68, West Publishing Company, 1947.

Major clients during this period included insurance companies such as Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; New York Life; Equitable; Aetna; Connecticut General; John Hancock; and Prudential for which the firm represented for a number of industry private placements.[https://books.google.com/books?id=v-YdAQAAMAAJ&q=willkie+aetna+hancock International Directory of Company Histories – Google Books]

Throughout the 1960s, Gallagher-lead Willkie was occupied with railroad reorganizations, setting the stage for the firm's emergence as a bankruptcy powerhouse. In 1968 the firm adopted its current name, Willkie Farr & Gallagher. From 1969 to 1995, Bob Hodes was the chairman of the firm.Kurt F. Stone. [https://books.google.com/books?id=ACTF56SnaykC&q=%22willkie+farr%22&pg=PA598 The Jews of Capitol Hill: A Compendium of Jewish Congressional Members] In 1977, Patricia S. Skigen became the firm's first female partner. That year, the firm moved to One Citicorp Center.

The firm was long known for its representation of Major League Baseball. Former Willkie Farr partner Bowie Kuhn served as Commissioner of Baseball from 1969 to 1984. Willkie Farr represented Major League Baseball in the famous Curt Flood free agency/antitrust case in the United States Supreme Court in 1970, and successfully litigated famous cases such as the Pine Tar Game in 1983 as well as, later in the 1980s, against Pete Rose regarding the highly publicized gambling case.

In 1993 Willkie suffered a precipitous drop in business when Shearson Lehman, which accounted for one-third of Willkie Farr billings, was sold to The Travelers Companies.[https://books.google.com/books?id=XzU8AQAAIAAJ&q=1993+willkie+shearson Vault Reports Guide to America's Top 50 Law Firms - H. S. Hamadeh, Vault Reports, Mark Oldman, Marcy Lerner, Edward Shen, Dough Cantor, Michael Hasday - Google Books][https://books.google.com/books?id=WzY8AQAAIAAJ&q=1993+willkie+shearson Vault Guide to the Top 100 Law Firms – Brook Moshan – Google Books] The firm consequently adopted a policy that no client would account for more than five percent of its business.

In 1994, corporate partner Nora Ann Wallace became the first female member of the firm's executive committee. Beginning in 1995, and for the next two decades, Mario Cuomo (the former 52nd Governor of New York) was of counsel at Willkie Farr.[https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/a779eefb "Mario Cuomo" | Society for American Baseball Research]

In 2003, carbon monoxide and smoke inhalation from a fire at a historic bed-and-breakfast in Charlottesville, Virginia, where members of the firm were staying on a recruiting trip, killed Willkie recruiting coordinators Trish Langlade and Billie Kelly.{{cite web|last=Miller |first=Adam |url=https://nypost.com/2003/11/15/inn-blaze-kills-law-recruiters-from-top-n-y-firm/ |title=Inn Blaze Kills Law Recruiters From Top N.Y. Firm |work=The New York Post |date=2003-11-15 |accessdate=2020-01-15}}{{cite web|url=http://www.readthehook.com/96459/news-clifton-hanger-inn-reopens-lawyers-press-claims |title=Clifton-hanger: Inn reopens as lawyers press claims |work=The Hook|date= |accessdate=2020-01-15}}{{cite web|url=http://www.readthehook.com/95459/news-tragic-files-three-lawsuits-target-clifton |title=Tragic files: Three lawsuits target Clifton |work=The Hook |date=2004-07-15 |accessdate=2020-01-15}}

In 2007, Willkie announced a strategic alliance with Dickson Minto, a boutique law firm with offices in London and Edinburgh that specializes in private equity, with both continuing to operate independently of each other.[http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/willkie_farr_forms_alliance_with_uks_dickson_minto/ Willkie Forms Alliance With UK's Dickson Minto] Willkie was recognized in 2015 as being in 'Band 1' (the top ranking) on the national scale for its work in eight practice areas according to Chambers & Partners.[https://www.willkie.com/news/2015/06/chambers-2015-directories-rankings "Chambers 2015 Directories Recognize Willkie with 91 Attorney and 35 Practice Area Rankings"]

In 2019, Gordon Caplan, then co-chairman of the firm,[https://www.law.com/2019/04/05/ex-willkie-co-chair-gordon-caplan-to-plead-guilty-in-college-cheating-case/ "Willkie Cuts Ties as Gordon Caplan Plans Guilty Plea in College Cheating Case", Law.com, The American Lawyer, April 5, 2019. Retrieved April 9, 2019.] named 2018 “Dealmaker of the Year” by The American Lawyer,Rick Mitchell. [https://biglawbusiness.com/wake-up-call-wiretap-used-to-ensnare-willkie-co-chair-others-in-college-entrance-bribery-case "Others, in College Entrance Bribery Case"], March 13, 2019, Bloomberg Law, BigLaw Business.com. Retrieved March 14, 2019. was indicted as a parent participant in the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal, for conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud; the firm placed him on indefinite leave the next day.[https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/05/business/gordon-caplan-lawyer-college-admissions-scandal.html "A Top Lawyer Will Plead Guilty in the College-Admissions Scandal", by Matthew Goldstein, The New York Times, April 5, 2019. Retrieved April 9, 2019.][https://www.law.com/americanlawyer/2019/03/13/in-branding-is-gordon-caplan-the-new-michael-cohen/?slreturn=20190214190757 "Willkie's Gordon Caplan Is Obscure No More",The American Lawyer.]{{cite web|url=https://www.justice.gov/file/1142876/download|title=Operation Varsity Blues - Department of Justice|last=|first=|date=|website=www.justice.gov|access-date=}}{{cite web|url=https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-news-yale-soccer-coach-bribes-20190312-xz3dfbea7na3xetuetrxnet264-story.html|title=Former Yale soccer coach and prominent Greenwich lawyer among dozens indicted in sweeping college admissions bribery scandal|last=Owens|first=David|website=courant.com|date=12 March 2019 |access-date=March 13, 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.law.com/americanlawyer/2019/03/13/willkie-farr-gallaghers-co-chair-placed-on-leave-amid-admissions-scandal/|title=Willkie Co-Chair Gordon Caplan Placed on Leave Amid Admissions Scandal|last=Strom|first=Roy |work=The American Lawyer|language=en|access-date=March 14, 2019}} A felony guilty plea deal was filed in March 2019, and he was sentenced to one month in prison.[https://www.law.com/americanlawyer/2019/04/08/caplan-to-plead-guilty-along-with-13-others-in-admissions-scan 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.][https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/page/file/1152636/download Andrew E. Lelling, U.S. Department of Justice, District of Massachusetts, March 27, 2019. Retrieved April 9, 2019.]

The American Lawyer ranked Willkie Farr 47th in gross revenue, with $772 million in 2017, and in the 2018 Global 200 survey it was ranked the 57th-highest-grossing law firm in the world.[https://www.law.com/law-firm-profile/?id=328&name=Willkie-Farr-Gallagher "Willkie Farr Gallagher" | Law.com] It had 145 equity partners, and its profits per equity partner were $2.97 million, 17th-highest in the nation.[https://www.law.com/law-firm-profile/?id=328&name=Willkie-Farr-%26-Gallagher-LLP "Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP" | Law.com][https://www.intelliteach.com/top-law-firms-profit-per-partner/ "The 100 Top Law Firms by Profits Per Partner in 2018"] In size, it was ranked the 68th-largest law firm in the United States.

In November 2023, amid a wave of antisemitic incidents at elite U.S. law schools, Willkie Farr & Gallagher was among a group of major law firms who sent a letter to top law school deans warning them that an escalation in incidents targeting Jewish students 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."{{cite news |last1=Sorkin |first1=Andrew Ross |last2=Mattu |first2=Ravi |last3=Warner |first3=Bernhard |last4=Kessler |first4=Sarah |last5=Merced |first5=Michael J. de la |last6=Hirsch |first6=Lauren |last7=Livni |first7=Ephrat |title=Law Firms Warn Universities About Antisemitism on Campus |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/02/business/dealbook/law-firms-schools-antisemitism.html |access-date=2 November 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=2 November 2023}}

On April 1, 2025, it was announced that Willkie had reached a deal with the Donald Trump administration to avoid being targeted by the Trump administration amid a larger campaign by the administration against big law firms.{{cite news |last1=Queen |first1=Jack |date=April 1, 2025 |title=Doug Emhoff's law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher reaches deal with Trump |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-says-reached-settlement-deal-210256246.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall|work=Reuters |language=en-US |access-date=April 1, 2025}} Under the reported terms of the deal, Willkie agreed to "provide $100 million in legal services and not engage in diversity, equity and inclusion programs." Willkie's decision stood in contrast to other law firms targeted for retaliation but resisted the administration.{{Cite news |last=Schmidt |first=Michael S. |last2=Goldstein |first2=Matthew |last3=Barrett |first3=Devlin |date=2025-03-28 |title=As Firms Sue to Stop Trump’s Executive Orders, a Split Emerges in Big Law |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/28/business/jenner-block-wilmer-hale-trump-lawsuit.html |access-date=2025-04-03 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

The top represented law schools at Willkie Farr include New York University School of Law (the school representing the highest number of firm partners), Harvard Law School, University of Pennsylvania Law School, Columbia Law School, Georgetown University Law Center and University of Virginia Law School.{{Citation needed|date=April 2019}}

• Norman Bay – former Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
• Doug Emhoff – former Second Gentleman of the United States{{Cite web |last=Wallace |first=Danielle |date=2025-01-28 |title=Kamala Harris' husband Doug Emhoff lands private sector job days after leaving Washington |url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/kamala-harris-husband-doug-emhoff-lands-private-sector-job-days-after-leaving-washington |access-date=2025-02-02 |website=Fox News |language=en-US}}

In 2022, Willkie Farr & Gallagher was a founding member of the Legal Alliance for Reproductive Rights, a coalition of United States law firms offering free legal services to people seeking and providing abortions in the wake of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overruled Roe v. Wade.{{cite news |last1=Lancaster |first1=Alaina |title=20 Law Firms Offer Pro Bono Legal Services to Defend Abortion Rights |url=https://www.law.com/therecorder/2022/06/01/20-law-firms-offer-pro-bono-legal-services-to-defend-abortion-rights/ |access-date=6 July 2022 |publisher=Law.com |date=June 1, 2022}}

• Robert Bork – Professor, Yale Law School; Solicitor General of the United States; judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit{{Cite web|url=https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/nomination-robert-h-bork-be-associate-justice-supreme-court-united-states|title = Nomination of Robert H. Bork to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States}}
• Danielle Citron – Professor, University of Virginia School of Law{{cite web | url=https://www.law.virginia.edu/faculty/profile/uqg7tt/2964150 | title=Danielle K. Citron | date=December 2020 }}{{failed verification|date=June 2023}}
• Roberta Karmel – first female SEC Commissioner, Centennial Professor of Law & Co-Director, Center for the Study of International Business Law, Brooklyn Law School{{Cite web |title=ROBERTA S. KARMEL |url=https://www.sec.gov/spotlight/mutualrecognition/bio/rkarmel.pdf |website=SEC.gov}}
• Pamela Samuelson{{citation needed|date=June 2023}} – Distinguished Professor & Director, Berkeley Center for Law & Technology; U.C. Berkeley School of Law
• Harold Wren – Dean and Professor of Law, the Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville, the Northwestern School of Law, Lewis & Clark College (1969–72), and the T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond.[http://apps.americanbar.org/abastore/products/books/abstracts/5150315contri_abs.pdf "About the Contributors"][https://books.google.com/books?id=Vsc8AQAAIAAJ&q=%22harold%22+wren+willkie+northwestern The Virginia Bar Association Journal ]

• Norman Bay – U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico; first Chinese-American U.S. Attorney; Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.{{Cite web |title=Norman C. Bay {{!}} Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP |url=https://www.willkie.com/professionals/b/bay-norman |access-date=June 29, 2023 |website=www.willkie.com |language=en}}
• Mario Cuomo – the 52nd Governor of New York, the Lieutenant Governor of New York, and the Secretary of State of New York.[http://www.willkie.com/news/2015/governor-cuomo In Memoriam: Mario M. Cuomo (1932-2015)], Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP (January 2, 2015).
• Lindley Miller Garrison – U.S. Secretary of War during World War I
• David Goodfriend – Deputy Staff Secretary to President Bill Clinton{{Cite web |title=Filing Detail |url=https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/search-filings/filing/209150 |access-date=June 29, 2023 |website=www.fcc.gov}}
• Charles Evans Hughes – U.S. Secretary of State; 36th Governor of New York
• Craig Johnson – New York State Senator
• Sean Patrick Maloney – Ambassador to the OECD & United States Representative for New York's 18th District{{cite web|first=Duncan|last=Osborne|date=December 16–22, 2004|title='20/20' Coordination Faulted|url=http://gaycitynews.com/gcn_351/2020coordinationfaulted.html|access-date=May 20, 2013|work=Gay City News|archive-date=March 24, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060324151853/http://gaycitynews.com/gcn_351/2020coordinationfaulted.html|url-status=live}}
• Nathan L. Miller – 43rd Governor of New York
• Benito Romano – U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York; first Puerto Rican to hold the U.S. Attorney post[https://web.archive.org/web/20101215144240/http://freshfields.com/people/profile/11/501822 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer]
• Wendell Willkie – 1940 US presidential candidate, and author of One World

• Felix Frankfurter – Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court
• Rachel Freier – Judge, New York City Criminal Court; first Hasidic Jewish woman to hold public office in United States history; was a paralegal at Willkie Farr.{{Cite news|url=http://www.recordonline.com/article/20070506/News/705060338|title=Living in Two Worlds: Rachel Freier, Mother, Wife and Lawyer, Is Also Hasidic Jew|first=Chris|last=McKenna|work=Times Herald-Record|date=May 6, 2007|access-date=October 31, 2016}}
• William Hornblower – Judge, New York Court of Appeals; Supreme Court nominee; President of New York City Bar Association{{cite web |url=http://www.willkie.com/firm/firm.aspx?type=history |title=Willkie Farr & Gallagher website |access-date=January 22, 2008 |archive-date=February 13, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080213073728/http://www.willkie.com/firm/firm.aspx?type=history |url-status=live }}
• Chester J. Straub – Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

• Kenneth Bialkin – Chairman of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith; Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations; co-Chairman of Willkie Farr[https://www.nytimes.com/1984/06/10/nyregion/lawyer-to-head-jewish-group.html "Lawyer to Head Jewish Group," The New York Times, June 10, 1984.]James F. Peltz (December 30, 1986). [https://apnews.com/918f70e2a03610d0e0b875501e56466e "Lawyers, Bankers Rush To Close Deals by Yearend"]
• Charles A. Boston – President, American Bar Association[https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/abaj21&div=85&id=&page= Charles A. Boston, 1863-1935 In Memoriam 21 American Bar Association Journal 1935]
• Louis A. Craco – President, New York City Bar Association
• Harold J. Gallagher – President, American Bar Association[https://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/28/obituaries/hj-gallagher-86-willkie-associate.html H.J. GALLAGHER, 86, WILLKIE ASSOCIATE - The New York Times]
• Bowie Kuhn – Major League Baseball (MLB) Commissioner
• Paul Mecurio – Emmy Award-winning comedian; writer on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart{{Cite web |date=February 12, 2020 |title=Paul Mercurio |url=https://www.consumerbankers.com/paul-mercurio |access-date=June 29, 2023 |website=Consumer Bankers Association |language=en}}
• John Oller, historian, biographer, and true crime writer
• Susan Thomases – Personal counsel and adviser to Hillary Clinton{{Cite web |date=October 27, 2016 |title=Susan Thomases Oral History {{!}} Miller Center |url=https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/presidential-oral-histories/susan-thomases-oral-history |access-date=June 29, 2023 |website=millercenter.org |language=en}}

The firm has 1,200 lawyers, in 15 offices in six countries (including offices in New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Palo Alto, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Paris (created in 1921), London, Rome, Milan, Munich, Frankfurt, and Brussels).

File:AXA Center from GE Building, cropped.jpg|AXA Center,
New York City

File:1875 K Street.JPG|1875 K Street,
Washington DC

File:City Point.jpg|CityPoint,
London

File:Hochhauskomplex An der Welle, Wolfgang Pehlemann.jpg| An der Welle,
Frankfurt
(Wolfgang Pehlemann)

• List of largest law firms by profits per partner

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• [https://www.willkie.com/ Official website]

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Category:Wendell Willkie