Gibson Dunn Lands Six Wachtell Litigation Partners — Led by Executive Committee Co-Chair William Savitt

In the week's most consequential lateral move, Gibson Dunn announced on July 28 the hire of six litigation partners from Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz: William Savitt (who co-chaired Wachtell's executive committee and litigation department), Sarah Eddy, Randall Jackson, Ryan McLeod, Anitha Reddy, and Brad Wilson. Savitt will co-chair Gibson Dunn's litigation practice. Above the Law noted that Wachtell partners earning north of $12M per partner per year do not move frequently — the fact that six moved simultaneously signals either a pull factor at Gibson Dunn that overcame the Wachtell premium, or a push factor at Wachtell that is worth monitoring. Reuters confirmed Gibson Dunn has been systematically bolstering its ranks with lateral partner hires — in April, the firm added four appellate partners from another prominent New York firm. For competitors and clients: the Savitt group move is the kind of lateral that reshapes practice-area rankings; Wachtell's litigation bench, built around Savitt's trial and Delaware corporate governance expertise, is now distributed between both firms.