Milbank

This article is about the law firm. For other uses, see Milbank (disambiguation).

Milbank LLP

Headquarters	55 Hudson Yards New York City
No. of offices	12
No. of attorneys	801 (2020)
Major practice areas	General practice
Revenue	$1,235,499,000 USD (2020)
Date founded	1866
Company type	Limited liability partnership
Website	www.milbank.com

Milbank LLP (commonly known as Milbank) is an international law firm headquartered in New York City. It also has offices in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, London, Frankfurt, Munich, Tokyo, Hong Kong, São Paulo, Seoul, Singapore, and Beijing.

History

Milbank's roots are traced back to 1866, with the inception of the original firm, Anderson, Adams & Young set up in 1866 and then as Murray & Aldrich merged in April 1929, with Webb, Patterson & Hadley to become Murray, Aldrich & Webb. In 1931, the firm merged with Masten & Nichols to become Milbank, Tweed, Hope & Webb. The name was changed in 1962 to Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy. For decades, the firm's biggest clients were the Rockefeller family and the Chase Manhattan Bank.

The firm was responsible for the legal work on the building of Rockefeller Center, and up until 2018, had offices located at One Chase Manhattan Plaza, which was later readdressed 28 Liberty, in 2015. After World War II the firm advised new commercial and industrial developments. Milbank created hedge funds and other investment vehicles for financial clients in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and capitalized on the growth of international business, finance, and technology transactions in the 1990s. Today, Milbank has offices in financial centers including London, Frankfurt, Munich, Seoul, Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong and Beijing, in addition to domestic offices in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.

In 1998, Milbank Partner John Gellene was convicted for knowingly and fraudulently making false declarations under penalty of perjury during the 1994 Bankruptcy case of Bucyrus-Erie. Gellene was sentenced to prison time and Milbank had to disgorge $1.8 million in fees.

On February 19, 2019, Milbank changed its name from Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP to Milbank LLP.

In November 2023, amid a wave of allegedly antisemitic incidents at elite U.S. law schools, Milbank was among a group of major law firms who sent a letter to top law school deans warning them that an escalation in incidents targeting Jewish students would have corporate hiring consequences. The letter said "We look to you to ensure your students who hope to join our firms after graduation are prepared to be an active part of workplace communities that have zero tolerance policies for any form of discrimination or harassment, much less the kind that has been taking place on some law school campuses."

In January 2024, The American Lawyer reported that Milbank grew its revenue by 17.8% to $1.514 billion in 2023 while its profits per equity partner jumped 18.6% to $5.114 million — a record year for the firm.

Office locations

New York headquarters

Milbank's New York office is the global headquarters of the firm. Located in New York City's Hudson Yards, the firm occupies 10 floors of the 55 Hudson Yards building. Milbank moved to Hudson Yards in February 2019 from its longtime headquarters at 28 Liberty (formerly One Chase Manhattan Plaza) in New York's Financial District.

Other United States offices

In addition to the firm's headquarters in New York City, Milbank maintains two offices in the United States.

Washington, D.C.

Milbank's Washington, D.C. practice combines the firm's traditional "Wall Street" practice - including a focus on complex international transactions and arbitrations and nationwide litigation - with experience in dealing with the federal government and the various multilateral institutions located in Washington.

Los Angeles

Milbank's Los Angeles office, located in the Century Plaza Towers, is the firm's largest domestic office outside of its New York City headquarters.

International offices

As counsel to foreign corporations with U.S. interests and U.S. corporations operating overseas, Milbank forged international relationships that endure today. In 1925, for example, the firm worked on a proposed Japanese bond issue for the Toho Electric Power Company. Fifty-two years later, in 1977, Milbank opened the first American law office in Tokyo, ten years before any other American law firm. Today, Milbank offices are located in key geographic regions to serve clients across the globe.

London

Milbank's London office opened in 1979 and today offers a range of services under both English and New York law.

Milbank's London office, located at 100 Liverpool Street, City of London

The firm is located at 100 Liverpool Street in the City of London, London's central business district. The building is among the top 1% of sustainable office buildings in the United Kingdom, according to the BRE Group, a building science and environmental certification body.

São Paulo

In 2010, Milbank launched an office in São Paulo, Brazil to better serve its Latin American and international clients doing business in Brazil and the region.

Asia/Pacific (Tokyo, Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong, Seoul)

30/F, Alexandra House, Hongkong

Milbank's commitment to Japan began in 1925, when founding partner Morris Hadley traveled to Yokohama to prepare an indenture for the Toho Electric Power Company.

In 1977, Milbank became the first U.S. law firm to establish an office in Tokyo under its own name, amid opposition from both the Ministry of Justice and Japan Federation of Bar Associations, who viewed it as illegal for foreign lawyers to practice in Japan at that time. Despite these protests, Milbank's office remained open through the early 1980s and was the only office of an American law firm in Japan during that time. Restrictions on foreign law firms in Japan were eased with the introduction of the attorney at foreign law system in 1987.

In the same year, Milbank became one of the first international law firms to open an office in Hong Kong. Milbank was again one of the first U.S. firms to open an office in Singapore, and did so in 1985. The firm opened its Beijing office in 2006, though it has been active in China since the early 1990s.

In early 2015, Milbank opened a Foreign Legal Consultant Office (FLCO) in Seoul. In Korea, the firm advises international and Korean corporations, financial institutions and government agencies on a variety of in-bound and out-bound transactions, including project finance, M&A and private equity investments, and disputes, as well as aviation and transportation finance.

Germany (Frankfurt, Munich)

The lawyers that make up Milbank's German practice in Frankfurt and Munich focus on legal advice in corporate, finance and tax matters.

The Frankfurt office was established in 2001, and the Munich office opened in 2004. The German offices work with Milbank's London and US offices to complete complex cross-border financing transactions.

See also

• List of largest law firms by profits per partner

Further reading

• Stewart, James (1983). The Partners: Inside America's Most Powerful Law Firms. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-42023-2.