The Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz founding partner on his objection to mega-firms, being unable to pull an all-nighter and why he has no plans to retire
Why did you become a lawyer?
It was chance. I started out thinking about an investment banking career: the opportunities in 1952 were not that great. I ended up going to New York University (NYU) law school.
Who has been the biggest influence on your career?
Russell Niles, the former dean of NYU law school, and Lincoln Morris, the then senior partner of Seligson Morris & Neuburger, the firm where I had my first position. Those relationships taught me a way of looking at things, of judging things and a way of life.
What’s your most exciting professional moment?
I’ve worked on dozens of exciting things. 1975 was an exciting year representing New York City in the fiscal crisis; at the same time I was involved in solving a financial crisis at NYU, where I acted as an agent on behalf of the law school (of which I was a trustee) and the university.
