Cravath Swaine & Moore has elected M&A group co-head Faiza Saeed as its new presiding partner, the firm’s first female firm-wide leader in its 200-year history.
Saeed, currently Cravath’s deputy presiding partner, takes up her new role next January from Allen Parker, whose four-year stint as presiding partner ends later this year.
One of the US firm’s top deal doers, Saeed’s clients include Time Warner, Bacardi, Precision Castparts, Hasbro, Morgan Stanley, Starbucks and DreamWorks Animation.
Among a number of big clients Saeed has advised is Time Warner on a number of major transactions, including: the unsolicited proposal from 21st Century Fox (which was withdrawn); its defence against Carl Icahn; its divestiture of Time Warner Telecom; and its merger with AOL.
Saeed also advised Precision Castparts in its $37bn acquisition by Berkshire Hathaway and Vivendi in its $46 billion merger with Seagram.
Saeed will be the first woman to run Cravath and one of the few female leaders of a major US law firm.
Cravath is widely regarded as one of the US’ most prestigious law firms. Last month it kicked off a salary war among top international firms when it raised its starting salary for junior lawyers from $160,000 to $180,000.
Calls to Cravath’s London office were not returned.