Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson


Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP,, is an international law firm with offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., London, and Frankfurt. The firm was founded in New York City and currently employs more than 500 attorneys worldwide.

History

Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson traces its origins back to the turn of the twentieth century to the predecessor firms Riegelman & Bach, Riegelman Hess & Strasser and Strasser Spiegelberg Fried and Frank. These firms were founded by German Jewish attorneys. In 1971, the firm took its current form with name partners Walter Fried, Hans Frank, Sam Harris, Sargent Shriver and Leslie Jacobson.
Fried Frank has four offices. It opened a Washington, D.C. office in 1949. Fried Frank also opened a Los Angeles office in 1986, but closed it in 2005. In 1970, Fried Frank opened a London office. A Paris satellite office followed in 1993 and has since closed. It opened in Frankfurt in 2004. In December 2006, the firm opened its Hong Kong office, recruiting the greater China managing partner of Simmons & Simmons, Huen Wong and other key partners. The firm officially launched an office in Shanghai in October 2007. In January 2015, Fried Frank announced it was closing its offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai, effectively pulling the plug on its Asia practice.
Efforts to merge with a UK law firm have been unsuccessful. In 2002, Fried Frank engaged in talks with Ashurst Morris Crisp, but talks fell apart. Fried Frank in 2004 hired Ashurst's former managing partner, Justin Spendlove.
In March 2009, Fried Frank announced it was laying off 41 associates and 58 staff members.
In February 2020, the Firm closed its fiscal year with another year of consecutive growth in several key financial metrics. The firm saw gross revenue increase 13.3 percent to $776 million, up from $684.8 million the year before. Revenue per lawyer rose 8.2 percent, to $1.442 million, while its profits per partner jumped 16 percent, to $3.79 million.

Practices

The Firm's practices include M&A and private equity; capital markets; asset management; corporate governance; securities regulation, compliance and enforcement; restructuring and insolvency; antitrust; intellectual property and technology; securities and shareholder litigation; white-collar crime; commercial litigation; real estate; benefits and compensation; tax; and trusts and estates.

Notable alumni