Wall Street Talent War Hits Litigation: Gibson Dunn Lures Wachtell Co-President Bill Savitt

A Wachtell Co-President Defects to Gibson Dunn

Bill Savitt, the co-president of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, is joining Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher along with five Wachtell partners, in one of the most significant lateral moves in recent Wall Street legal history. Gibson Dunn announced the arrival early this week after its litigation star Orin Snyder recruited Savitt over coffee at Nougatine, a restaurant near Central Park in New York. The move removes a central figure from Wachtell's Delaware litigation practice and places an elite litigator inside a global firm with roughly 2,200 lawyers and annual revenue approaching $5 billion.

Savitt is one of the most prominent corporate litigators in the United States, known for defending the boards of Fortune 500 companies in merger disputes and shareholder activism fights. He returned to New York this spring after helping OpenAI defeat Elon Musk in federal court in California. His departure matters because Wachtell, frequently described as the most profitable law firm in the country per partner, has historically kept lawyers for entire careers. A co-president leaving for a rival would have been inconceivable only a few years ago, according to a managing director at another major firm quoted in the report.

The group moving to Gibson Dunn includes Delaware-law specialists Sarah Eddy and Randall Jackson along with other colleagues. A third expected arrival, Nathaniel Cullerton, was not included in the announcement after being suspended pending an investigation into a social media video. Wachtell now has fewer than 20 litigation partners, although respected Delaware jurist Leo Strine, hired by Savitt in 2020, is expected to remain. Wachtell's Andy Nussbaum and co-founder Marty Lipton, 95, have tried to reassure staff about the firm's prospects.

Why Savitt's Move Reshapes Delaware Litigation and the Legal Talent Market

Wachtell's Lifetime Model Meets the Lateral Market

Wachtell has long been the exception in an industry of restless laterals, keeping a seniority-based compensation system while many big firms moved to star-driven pay. The report says Wachtell recently shifted funds from litigators to dealmakers, a historic step that displeased some of its litigators, with the Savitt group believing the firm's M&A lawyers undervalued litigation's contribution. The defection is a direct consequence of that internal tension, and it publicly cracks the image of Wachtell as a lifetime home.

The Delaware Franchise Is the Real Prize

Most US companies incorporate in Delaware, and Savitt was a central figure in Wachtell's Delaware practice. He hired Leo Strine, the former Delaware chief justice, in 2020 and advised Governor Matt Meyer on keeping companies from reincorporating in Texas. Gibson Dunn now gains that Delaware bench while also having helped ExxonMobil move its incorporation to Texas, positioning the firm on both sides of the corporate-venue battle. Strine staying with Wachtell softens the blow, but the core of the firm's Delaware activity has moved across town.

Gibson Wins Big, and Inherits a Musk Complication

Savitt is known for defeating Elon Musk in two high-profile disputes, while Gibson Dunn counts the billionaire as a valuable client. Gibson insists there is enough work to keep both newcomers and veterans busy, but the combination will be watched closely. The larger structural point is that Gibson's transactional practice is smaller than Wachtell's, and Savitt's litigation work supported high-end dealmaking. Gibson's size and capacity allow it to handle work that Wachtell, with fewer than 300 lawyers, sometimes had to refer elsewhere.

The Talent War Has Reached Litigation

Until now, the lateral frenzy in elite law was mostly about M&A and private equity partners with predictable fee books, with packages sometimes exceeding $20 million a year. Savitt's move is the clearest sign yet that litigators and firm leaders are now in play. Quinn Emanuel co-chair Michael Carlinsky told the Financial Times that his firm has intensified partner recruitment worldwide. For rivals, the lesson is that even the most stable institutions can lose their most important people when compensation and internal status fall out of step with the market.

What the Savitt Departure Means for Corporate Clients and Rival Firms

• Corporate boards and general counsel with active Delaware matters: identify which Wachtell partners handle your work and ask for written continuity plans, because the departing group includes Savitt and Delaware-focused partners Sarah Eddy and Randall Jackson.
• Law firm leaders planning laterals: treat litigation stars with Delaware books as moveable in a way they previously were not, and revisit compensation models before an internal pay shift prompts a defection like Wachtell's.
• Companies weighing reincorporation outside Delaware: Gibson's new bench adds credible Delaware expertise even as the firm helps clients move to Texas, so legal advice on incorporation venue is becoming more contested; watch how Delaware responds after relying on advisors like Savitt in its pushback.