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.
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
Ropes & Gray lawyers have advised on major transactions, including:
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
Ropes & Gray lawyers have litigated high-profile cases, including:
Defending physicians’ First Amendment rights in Wollschlaeger v. Governor of Florida. The case concerned a Florida law banning doctors from inquiring about patients’ gun ownership.[19]
Representing Willkie Farr & Gallagher (then) co-chairman Gordon Caplan, JD, who was arrested in March 2019 as a parent participant in the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal. Caplan is represented by firm partners Joshua Levy, co-chairman of global litigation and enforcement practice, and Michael McGovern, co-chairman of government enforcement practice.[22] A guilty plea deal in United States v. Gordon Caplan was filed by United States AttorneyAndrew Lelling on March 27, 2019.[23][24] An Assistant United States Attorney prosecuting the case, Leslie Wright, is a Ropes & Gray alumna.[25]
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.[26]
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]
^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.
