Cadwalader Expands Litigation Team with Addition of Jonathan Watkins

February 22, 2018

Contact(s)

Ron Brandsdorfer
New York
+1 212 504 6712
ron.brandsdorfer@cwt.com

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP today announced that Litigation partner Jonathan M. Watkins has joined the firm’s Corporate and Financial Services Litigation practice. Watkins joins the firm from Moore & Van Allen, where he was a partner.

Watkins’ practice focuses on the representation of public and private businesses and financial institutions in complex litigation and regulatory and white-collar investigations. He has represented clients in securities, derivative, and other shareholder actions, M&A-related litigation, suits alleging breaches of fiduciary duties by corporate directors, disputes involving complex financial benchmarks and instruments, litigation arising out of commercial contracts and transactions, intellectual property and antitrust litigation, and government and internal investigations.

Watkins began his career at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP in New York and, over the years, has represented financial services institutions, corporations, and funds in federal and state courts across the country.

Watkins’ government investigations practice involves the representation of financial institutions and other corporate clients in investigations by regulators, prosecutors, and enforcement agencies, including the Department of Justice and United States Attorneys’ offices around the country, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Reserve.

“Jon is another exceptional addition to our expanding Corporate and Financial Services Litigation practice,” said Cadwalader managing partner Pat Quinn. “He advises significant clients on high-impact matters and is very highly regarded.”

“Jon has a very broad background and brings great capabilities to our expanding litigation team,” said Cadwalader Litigation Group chair Jason Halper. “He will provide great support to our many  clients around the country—his practice is truly national in scope.”

At Cadwalader, Watkins will split his time between the firm’s New York and Charlotte offices.

“Cadwalader has such a strong marketplace presence with financial institutions and funds and is an international leader in its key practice areas,” Watkins said. “This is an outstanding opportunity to represent clients on challenging and complex matters and to grow my practice at an international firm.”

Watkins’ arrival is the latest in a series of important lateral partner additions at Cadwalader. In recent weeks, M&A partner Chris Cox returned to the firm after several years in a senior corporate role and real estate partner Alan Lawrence lateraled back to the firm from another major firm. Previously, partners Todd Blanche and Ellen Holloman joined together to enhance the firm’s Litigation capabilities in New York and Washington, DC; and partner Kurt Oosterhouse expanded the firm’s corporate finance practice with his arrival in Charlotte.