Ropes & Gray LLP is an American multinational law firm with 14 offices located in the U.S., Asia and Europe. The firm has more than 1,500 lawyers and professionals worldwide; its clients include corporations, financial institutions, government agencies, universities, and health care organizations. It was founded in 1865 in Boston by John Codman Ropes and John Chipman Gray.

Ropes & Gray LLP
HeadquartersPrudential Tower
Boston, Massachusetts
United States
No. of offices14
No. of attorneys~1,300[1] (2024)
Major practice areas
  • Private equity
  • Asset management
  • Health care & life sciences
  • Finance & Special Situations
  • Mergers & acquisitions
  • Litigation
Key people
  • Julie Jones
  • (Chair)
  • David Djaha
  • (Managing Partner)
  • Akhil Sethi
  • (Chief Operating Officer)
[2]
Revenue$2.992 billion (2023)[3]
Date founded1865
FounderJohn Codman Ropes
John Chipman Gray
Company typeLimited liability partnership
Websiteropesgray.com

History

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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 was renamed "Ropes, Gray and Loring" until Loring's departure in 1899, when he was appointed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.[4][5] During that time, the firm represented the New York and New England Railroad.[4]

In 2003, the firm acquired New York City-based private equity law firm Reboul, MacMurray, Hewitt & Maynard.[6] In 2005, it acquired NYC-based intellectual property law firm Fish & Neave.[7]

In 2017, the firm elected Julie Jones as chair. After serving as chair-elect for two years, Jones took the helm in 2020.[8] In 2024, Jones was re-elected to another five-year term.[1]

In July 2023, Ropes & Gray announced the relocation of some Shanghai-based lawyers to its Hong Kong operation and the launch of an office in Singapore.[9][10] In November 2023, amid a wave of antisemitic incidents at elite U.S. law schools, Ropes & Gray 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 stated: "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."[11]

Prominent transactions

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

  • Altimeter Growth Corp. in its merger to take Grab public for $39.6 billion, the largest special-purpose acquisition company merger in history[12][13]
  • 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[citation needed]
  • The sale of the Warner Music Group to Access Industries by private equity firms Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee, for $3.3 billion[citation needed]
  • 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;[14]
  • Bain Capital's acquisition of Bellsystem24[15]
  • 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[16]
  • 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[17]
  • Nippon Steel Corporation's 2023 definitive agreement to purchase U.S. Steel for $14 billion. [18]

Prominent cases

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

Awards

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The firm received five Law360 “Practice Group of the Year” awards for private equity, fund formation, securitizations, health care and white collar in 2019.[28]

Notable current and former attorneys

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Strom, Roy "Ropes & Gray Taps Julie Jones for Second Term as Leader" Bloomberg Law, September 24, 2024. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
  2. ^ "AKHIL SETHI". Ropes & Gray. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  3. ^ "Ropes %26 Gray". Law.com. August 22, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "William Caleb Loring, Associate Justice memorial, 277 Mass. 589 (1931)". Government of Massachusetts. 1931. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
  5. ^ "Justice Loring Dies In Home At Age of 79", Fitchburg Sentinel (September 8, 1930), p. 1, 5.
  6. ^ "Company Briefs". The New York Times. May 3, 2003. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  7. ^ S, Brenda; November 09, burg |; AM, 2004 at 12:00. "Fish & Neave to Combine with Ropes & Gray". Law.com. Retrieved August 20, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ Stokes, Samantha "Female lawyers are gaining seats at the table. Here are 9 women in charge of elite law firms" Business Insider, March 12, 2021. Retrieved October 16, 2024.
  9. ^ "Ropes & Gray Plans to Launch Office in Singapore". Law.com International. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
  10. ^ "Ropes Winding Down Chinese Operations To Focus On Hong Kong". Law.com International. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
  11. ^ Sorkin, Andrew Ross; Mattu, Ravi; Warner, Bernhard; Kessler, Sarah; Merced, Michael J. de la; Hirsch, Lauren; Livni, Ephrat (November 2, 2023). "Law Firms Warn Universities About Antisemitism on Campus". The New York Times. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
  12. ^ "Ropes & Gray Advises Altimeter in Nearly $40 billion Merger to Take Grab Holdings Public". ropesgray.com. April 13, 2021.
  13. ^ "SoftBank-backed Grab agrees to deal to go public in world's largest SPAC merger". cnbc.com. April 13, 2021.
  14. ^ Michael Smith and Stephen Aldred (August 21, 2011). "Bain snaps up Australian tech firm MYOB for $1.3 billion". Reuters.
  15. ^ "Nasdaq". Nasdaq. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
  16. ^ "IP Watchdog, Sept. 30, 2010". Ipwatchdog.com. September 30, 2010. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
  17. ^ "Ropes & Gray Can Breathe Easy With Toshiba Deal Sealed". Law360. August 17, 2018.
  18. ^ "Nippon Steel Corporation (NSC) to Acquire U. S. Steel, Moving Forward Together as the 'Best Steelmaker with World-Leading Capabilities'". December 18, 2023.
  19. ^ "Wollschlaeger v. Governor of Fla". Casetext. February 16, 2017.
  20. ^ "Gawker Turns To Tireless Ropes & Gray Atty For Ch. 11 Rescue". Law360. June 10, 2016.
  21. ^ "Top U.S.O.C. Officials Failed to Act on Nassar Allegations, Report Says". The New York Times. December 10, 2018.
  22. ^ "Gordon Caplan Set to Appear Alongside Lori Loughlin in College Admissions Case | The American Lawyer".
  23. ^ 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.
  24. ^ Andrew E. Lelling , U.S. Department of Justice, District of Massachusetts,March 27, 2019. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  25. ^ "Meet the Big Law Alums Prosecuting the College Admissions Scandal", by Mike Scarcella and Nate Robson, March 13, 2019. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  26. ^ "Jones et. al. v. Harris Associates L.P." (PDF). Retrieved January 28, 2012.
  27. ^ "Charges Dropped Against Deepwater Horizon Engineer". The Maritime Executive. November 10, 2015.
  28. ^ "Law360 Names Practice Groups Of The Year". Law360. January 12, 2020.
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