Wachtell co-chair and six-partner litigation team depart for Gibson Dunn

Wachtell’s firm co-chair and star litigator known for facing off against Elon Musk in court has exited with a team of six for Gibson Dunn in New York.

The trial heavyweight William Savitt will join Gibson Dunn as co-chair of litigation. The team arriving alongside him includes partners Sarah Eddy, Randall Jackson, Ryan McLeod, Anitha Reddy and Bradley Wilson.

Savitt’s exit marks the end of more than 25 years at Watchtell. He has served as co-chair of the prestigious firm’s executive committee since 2023 alongside Andy Nussbaum.

The senior litigator is best known for defeating Elon Musk in litigation - twice. In May, he acting for Open AI and Sam Altman, he successfully had the Tesla chief’s suit against Open AI and Sam Altman over its move to a for-profit model thrown out, and in 2022, Savitt acted for Twitter in a suit forcing Musk to make good on his promise to buy the social media platform for $44 billion.

Gibson Dunn recently advised Musk’s SpaceX on its history-making IPO. 

‘A dream scenario’

In a statement shared with Non-Billable, Gibson Dunn’s managing partner Barbara Becker said: “This team could have gone anywhere in the world. Gibson Dunn was the only firm they considered.”

The firm’s trial practice co-chair Orin Snyder said: “We’ve been huge fans of Bill and his team for years, and bringing our forces together is a dream scenario.”

“This partnership creates a litigation powerhouse without equal,” he said.

The unique model

Wachtell operates a tight-knit partnership out of a single office in New York City, and is known for taking on market-critical deals and disputes, retaining high profitability, and for seldom losing partners to competitors.

The firm traditionally maintained a strictly seniority-based lockstep model, but recently amended its pay structure to redistribute equity to star deal lawyers in the wake of the hot lateral market and after a series of partner exits.

Leaving the firm no one leaves

In May, Kirkland lured the firm’s restructuring head Joshua Feltman by pledging $80 million in compensation over three years, roughly a year on from Latham’s headline-grabbing hire of top New York rainmaker Zach Podolsky.

Also this year, Wachtell lost finance partner Emily Johnson and corporate partner Mark Stagliano as well as executive compensation specialist Erica Aho to Latham.

For Gibson Dunn, the arrival strengthens an already well-positioned disputes offering. In April, the firm hired a four-partner litigation team led by former Acting Attorney General Jeff Wall, who co-chairs the firm’s appellate and constitutional law practice in Washington D.C. and New York.