Skadden vs Wachtell vs Latham & Watkins
A Battle of the World's Leading Law Firms
Will Wachtell (Warner Bros. Discovery) face off against Skadden (Netflix) or Latham & Watkins (Paramount Skydance) in the end?
The 'Warner Bros. acquisition battle' has become a hot topic as a proxy war among leading global law firms. Netflix was the first to make a move in what is set to be the largest merger and acquisition (M&A) in media industry history. Netflix, which offered an acquisition price of 72 billion dollars, is represented by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. Skadden ranked fifth globally by revenue in Law.com’s '2025 Global 200' law firm rankings. As of 2024, Skadden posted 3.6 billion dollars in revenue, with revenue per lawyer exceeding 2 million dollars.
Paramount countered Netflix with a hostile M&A bid of 108.4 billion dollars. The Paramount camp is led by Latham & Watkins. Latham & Watkins is even larger than Skadden, ranking second worldwide with 7 billion dollars in revenue in 2024 and recording 1.95 million dollars in revenue per lawyer. Two months ago, Makan Delrahim, who joined Paramount as Chief Legal Officer, was also a former partner at Latham & Watkins. Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and the traditional powerhouse Cravath, Swaine & Moore are also lending their support to the Paramount side.
Though up for sale, Warner Bros. is not easily outmaneuvered. The company has appointed Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz as its legal representative. While Wachtell's revenue, at around 1.2 billion dollars, does not match that of Skadden or Latham & Watkins, its revenue per lawyer is about 4.5 million dollars-more than double that of the two larger firms, demonstrating exceptional productivity. In New York, there is even a saying: "If you want to run a law firm, do it like Wachtell."
Ju Woohyuk, a U.S. attorney at Law Firm Lin, commented, "Major corporate M&As that attract significant attention, such as the Warner Bros. acquisition, are handled by large law firms with abundant capital and robust personnel structures." He added, "Such deals require extensive review of financial and accounting data, as well as litigation records, so corresponding manpower support is essential." Attorney Ju also noted, "After an M&A is completed, new lawsuits regarding the treatment of internal employees often follow. Large law firms with outstanding expertise in various fields are preferred as representatives because they can prevent and handle such post-acquisition litigation." He further analyzed that factors such as personal networks like Delrahim’s, potential conflicts of interest with existing cases, and price competitiveness likely influenced the selection of law firms.
There is also attention on whether U.S. President Donald Trump will exert influence over the Warner Bros. acquisition. Previously, President Trump remarked at an awards ceremony, "If Netflix acquires Warner Bros., its market share will increase, which could be problematic." Warner Bros. is also the parent company of cable news broadcaster CNN, and President Trump has been critical of CNN, which is considered to have a progressive stance.
Another reason for the focus on possible direct or indirect involvement by the Trump family is that Affinity Partners, led by Trump’s eldest son-in-law Jared Kushner, is participating as a non-voting investor in the assets Paramount needs for this deal. If Paramount acquires Warner Bros., the Trump family would acquire a stake in the company. On December 8, President Trump stated, "I have not had any separate conversations with Kushner (my son-in-law) regarding the Warner Bros. deal," and clarified, "Neither Netflix nor Paramount is a friend of mine."
Kim Jisoo, The Legal Times Reporter
※This article is based on content supplied by Law Times.
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