Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, a prominent Wall Street law firm known for its stability and rare partner departures, has recently witnessed the transition of two corporate attorneys into in-house positions.
On Monday, Salesforce.com Inc. made an announcement regarding the appointment of Sabastian Niles, a former partner at Wachtell, as its new chief legal officer. Niles had previously advised Salesforce in a successful agreement that prevented a proxy contest with activist investor Elliott Investment Management LP, which had acquired a significant stake in the software company in January of the previous year.
Niles’ decision to join Salesforce follows the recent move of another Wachtell partner, Gordon Moodie, who was appointed as the chief product officer at Harvey, an AI startup focused on revolutionizing the legal industry. Harvey has secured $21 million in investments with the aim of bringing artificial intelligence advancements to the legal field.
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Gordon Moodie has already updated his LinkedIn profile to reflect his new role, although neither he nor Winston Weinberg, the founder of Harvey and former O’Melveny & Myers associate, provided immediate comments on the matter.
Wachtell issued a statement acknowledging Moodie’s significant contributions to their corporate team over the past decade, describing him as an “invaluable part” of the firm. They expressed their support for his pursuit of exploring AI’s growing relevance to the law and confirmed that he is currently on a leave of absence to pursue his interest in this field.
Regarding Niles, Wachtell described him as a “great partner, friend, and colleague,” emphasizing his substantial contributions to the firm’s collaboration, innovation, and inclusion culture. The law firm expressed satisfaction that Salesforce, a long-standing valued client, recognized Niles’ talents, judgment, and leadership skills.
Salesforce has previously relied on Wachtell, renowned for its transactional expertise, as well as Morrison & Foerster, to handle notable acquisitions such as the $15.3 billion purchase of Tableau Software and the $27.7 billion acquisition of Slack Technologies Inc.
The departures of Niles and Moodie mark the second and third instances of Wachtell partners making significant career moves this year.
In March, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison announced hiring Andrea Wahlquist Brown, a former executive compensation partner at Wachtell. Wahlquist Brown was a rare lateral hire by Wachtell a decade ago, having previously worked at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.
It is worth noting that partner departures are highly uncommon at Wachtell. The last instance of a corporate partner joining a rival firm occurred in 2020 when Edward Lee made the transition to Kirkland & Ellis. DongJu Song, another former corporate partner at Wachtell, left the firm last year to join SH Operations LLC, as indicated on his LinkedIn profile.
Wachtell recently made headlines when technology magnate Elon Musk filed a lawsuit against the firm, contesting a $90 million success fee paid to Wachtell for its involvement in Musk’s acquisition of Twitter Inc.
In 2021, Salesforce promoted its long-serving legal chief, Amy Weaver, to the position of chief financial officer. Subsequently, Todd Machtmes, another lawyer within the company, was promoted to the role of general counsel. Machtmes now reports to Sabastian Niles, who, as the newly appointed chief legal officer, is part of Salesforce’s executive leadership team and reports directly to Marc Benioff, the company’s chairman and chief executive.
According to Salesforce’s most recent proxy statement, Machtmes did not rank among the company’s six highest-paid executives in 2022. Amy Weaver received over $15.7 million in total compensation that year, primarily through stock and options awards.
Overall, Wachtell’s recent experiences with partner departures and the subsequent advancements of Niles and Moodie highlight the evolving landscape of legal professionals seeking new opportunities within corporations and AI-driven startups. The legal industry continues to witness notable transitions as technological advancements and the demand for innovative solutions reshape the traditional legal landscape.
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