{{Short description|American multinational law firm}} {{Use American English|date=January 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2024}} {{Infobox law firm | name = Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP | logo = Arnold & Porter logo.svg | num_offices = 16 | num_attorneys = 1000+<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chambers-associate.com/arnold-porter/true-picture/3811/1|title = Arnold & Porter - the Inside View}}</ref> | practice_areas = General corporate practice, litigation, regulatory | date_founded = 1946 (Arnold & Fortas)<br/>1917 ([[Kaye Scholer]]) | company_type = [[Limited liability partnership]] | homepage = {{URL|arnoldporter.com}} }} '''Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP''', [[doing business as]] '''Arnold & Porter''', is an American [[multinational corporation|multinational]] [[law firm]].<ref>[https://archive.today/20130117123214/http://www.arnoldporter.com/offices.cfm Arnold & Porter website]</ref> It is a [[white-shoe firm]]<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hsu |first1=Spencer |title=Honduras hired elite D.C. law firm in failed lobbying effort to derail 'state-sponsored drug trafficking probe' of president's brother |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/honduras-lobby-us-prosecutors/2021/04/01/5aaac942-9274-11eb-a74e-1f4cf89fd948_story.html |access-date=2 August 2024 |work=Washington Post |date=April 1, 2021}}</ref> and among the [[List of largest law firms by revenue|largest law firms]] in the world, both by revenue and by number of lawyers.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.law.com/law-firm-profile/?id=162319&name=Arnold-%26-Porter| title = Arnold & Porter {{!}} Law.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vault.com/company-profiles/law/arnold-porter-kaye-scholer-llp|title = Arnold & Porter | Company Profile}}</ref>
Arnold & Porter was founded in 1946 by Thurman Arnold and Abe Fortas, and was originally known as Arnold & Fortas. Paul Porter joined the firm a year later, becoming a name partner.
==History== The original firm was founded as Arnold & Fortas in 1946 by [[New Deal]] veterans [[Thurman Arnold]], a former [[Yale Law School]] professor and U.S. Court of Appeals judge on the [[D.C. Circuit]], and [[Abe Fortas]], another former Yale Law School professor who later became a [[Supreme Court justice]].<ref>[http://www.chambersstudent.co.uk/Law/FirmFeature/493 ''Chambers Student Guide 2011''], [[Chambers and Partners]].</ref> In 1947, [[Paul A. Porter]], a former chairman of the [[Federal Communications Commission]], joined the firm and it was renamed as Arnold, Fortas & Porter. In 1965, Abe Fortas' name was dropped from the firm's name, after his ascension to the Supreme Court, as is customary.<ref>{{cite news |last1=GRAHAM |first1=FRED P. |title=Fortas, High Court Nominee, Leaving Law Firm That Is a Capital Byword |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/08/08/archives/fortas-high-court-nominee-leaving-law-firm-that-is-a-capital-byword.html |access-date=28 January 2026 |work=The New York Times |date=8 August 1965}}</ref> Arnold & Porter later refused to re-admit its founder to the firm, following Fortas'<ref>{{cite news |last1=Murphy |first1=Bruce Allen |title=HE COULD NEVER HAVE ENOUGH |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/31/books/he-could-never-have-enough.html |access-date=28 January 2026 |work=The New York Times |date=31 July 1988}}</ref> 1969 resignation from the Supreme Court.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cohen |first1=Adam |title=54 Years Ago, a Supreme Court Justice Was Forced to Quit for Behavior Arguably Less Egregious Than Thomas’s |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/11/opinion/clarence-thomas-supreme-court-abe-fortas.html |access-date=28 January 2026 |work=The New York Times |date=11 April 2024}}</ref>
In November 2016, Arnold & Porter announced a merger with New York-based firm [[Kaye Scholer]], forming Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, with approximately 1,000 attorneys across 14 offices. The merger took effect on January 1, 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.arnoldporter.com/en/perspectives/news/2016/11/arnold-porter-kaye-scholer-announce-combination|title=Arnold & Porter and Kaye Scholer Announce Combination {{!}} News {{!}} Arnold & Porter|website=Arnold & Porter|access-date=2016-12-20}}</ref> In July 2025, the firm announced the launch of a new office in Seattle, bringing its tally of U.S.- based offices to 11.<ref>{{cite web |title=Arnold & Porter hires partner group from K&L Gates to launch in Seattle |url=https://www.globallegalpost.com/news/arnold-porter-hires-partner-group-from-kl-gates-to-launch-in-seattle-2047996701 |website=The Global Legal Post |access-date=2 September 2025}}</ref>
In February 2018, ''[[The National Law Journal]]'' reported that the newly combined "firm has quietly reversed its post-merger branding efforts" and "scrubbed nearly all mention of Kaye Scholer from its public image, changing its brand name, email addresses and web domain", while retaining the legal entity name in full.<ref>[https://www.law.com/nationallawjournal/sites/nationallawjournal/2018/02/02/arnold-porter-scrubs-kaye-scholer-from-masthead-website/ "Arnold & Porter Scrubs Kaye Scholer From Masthead, Website", by Ryan Lovelace, ''The National Law Journal'', Law.com, February 02, 2018. Retrieved July 27, 2019.]</ref> In September 2020, Arnold & Porter announced that it will shut down its Frankfurt office by the end of March 2021.<ref>[https://www.juve.de/markt-und-management/aus-in-deutschland-arnold-porter-schliesst-frankfurter-buero/] "Aus in Deutschland - Arnold & Porter schließt Frankfurter Buero"</ref>
In 2022, Arnold & Porter was a founding member of the [[Legal Alliance for Reproductive Rights]], a coalition of United States law firms offering free legal services to people seeking and providing abortions in the wake of ''[[Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization]]'', which overruled ''[[Roe v. Wade]]''.<ref name=law>{{cite news |last1=Lancaster |first1=Alaina |title=20 Law Firms Offer Pro Bono Legal Services to Defend Abortion Rights |url=https://www.law.com/therecorder/2022/06/01/20-law-firms-offer-pro-bono-legal-services-to-defend-abortion-rights/ |access-date=6 July 2022 |publisher=Law.com |date=June 1, 2022}}</ref>
In 2024, Arnold & Porter reported a 5% increase in revenue, reaching $1.19 billion. Profits per equity partner rose to $1.63 million, and revenue per lawyer increased by 6.5% to $1.24 million.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2025-03-13 |title=Wake Up Call: Arnold & Porter Revenue Jumps Amid Bump in Demand |url=https://news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and-practice/wake-up-call-arnold-porter-revenue-jumps-amid-bump-in-demand |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250314015642/https://news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and-practice/wake-up-call-arnold-porter-revenue-jumps-amid-bump-in-demand |archive-date=2025-03-14 |access-date=2025-05-27 |language=en}}</ref>
== Notable clients and cases == {{Expand section|date=January 2026}} In 1963, [[Abe Fortas]] of Arnold, Fortas & Porter, was appointed by the Supreme Court to represent Clarence Gideon in the landmark case of ''[[Gideon v. Wainwright]]''.<ref>{{cite web|last=Krash|first=Abe|title=Architects of Gideon: Remembering Abe Fortas and Hugo Black|url=http://www.nacdl.org/Champion/Articles/98mar02.htm|work=The Champion|publisher=NACDL|access-date=October 24, 2013|date=March 1998|archive-date=April 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407221600/http://www.nacdl.org/CHAMPION/ARTICLES/98mar02.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Abe Krash]] and [[John Hart Ely]] worked with Fortas on ''Gideon''. This led to the Supreme Court upholding the right to counsel in felony prosecutions and requiring states to provide counsel to defendants unable to afford their own.
The firm has represented [[BP]] in legal settlements over the [[Deepwater Horizon oil spill]] since 2010; [[General Electric]] in its $32 billion merger of [[GE Oil & Gas]] with [[Baker Hughes]]; [[AT&T]] in its $49 billion purchase of [[DIRECTV]]; and [[Pfizer]] in its $43 billion acquisition of [[Seagen]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP |url=https://vault.com/company-profiles/law/arnold-porter |website=Vault.com |publisher=Vault |access-date=28 January 2026}}</ref>
Arnold & Porter represented [[OxyContin]] manufacturer [[Purdue Pharma]] in [[opioid epidemic]] litigation during the late 2010s.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pharma and Tobacco |url=https://lawfirmtransparency.org/topic/pharma-and-tobacco/ |website=Lawfirmtransparency.org |publisher=The Law Firm Transparency Project |access-date=28 January 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Endo’s End Around: How One of the Nation’s Largest Opioid Makers Escaped a $7 Billion Federal Penalty |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/endo-settlement-opioids-justice-department |access-date=28 January 2026 |work=ProPublica |publisher=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=17 December 2024}}</ref>
Firm partner Axel Gutermuth represented [[AbbVie]] in its $63 billion purchase of [[Allergan]].<ref>{{cite web |title=GCR Awards 2021: voting now open |url=https://globalcompetitionreview.com/article/gcr-awards-2021-voting-now-open |website=Globalcompetitionreview.com |publisher=Law Business Research |access-date=28 January 2026 |date=17 February 2021}}</ref>
In 2022, the firm was sanctioned and fined $150,000 by a [[Suffolk County, New York]], court for [[Discovery (law)|discovery]] disclosure breaches in its representation of [[Endo Pharmaceuticals]] in [[opioid]] litigation.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Weiss |first1=DEBRA CASSENS |title=Arnold & Porter is ordered to pay more than $150K in sanctions for discovery 'poor judgment' |url=https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/arnold-porter-is-ordered-to-pay-more-than-150k-in-sanctions-for-discovery-poor-judgment |website=Abajournal.com |publisher=ABA Journal |access-date=28 January 2026}}</ref>
== ''Pro bono'' cases == In 2020, Arnold & Porter attorneys helped secure a $14 million judgment for 12 [[Black Lives Matter]] protesters who were victims of [[police brutality]] in Colorado.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kasakove |first=Sophie |date=2022-03-26 |title=Colorado Jury Awards $14 Million to Demonstrators Injured in George Floyd Protests |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/26/us/denver-george-floyd-protests-ruling.html |access-date=2023-02-11 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The matter took 18 months to settle and required 14,000-plus lawyer hours.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-12-06 |title=Lawyers use pro bono hours to step up fight for racial justice |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/bb91b973-4fcc-4140-a67f-4f89214a1e5d |access-date=2023-02-11}}</ref>
Attorneys with the firm assisted the family of Lt. [[Henry Ossian Flipper]] in obtaining the first posthumous [[presidential pardon]] in U.S. history, and represented Ukrainian [[mail order bride]] Nataliya Fox against international marriage broker Encounters International in a landmark case that helped to establish the rights of such women.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mail-Order Misery: Imported Brides - Newsweek Society - MSNBC.com |url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6884657/site/newsweek |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060614163446/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6884657/site/newsweek |archive-date=2006-06-14 |access-date=2006-05-30}}</ref>
The firm is co-counsel with the DC Prisoners' Project of the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, which represents prisoners at [[ADX Florence]] who allege deficiencies in psychiatric evaluation and care in ''[[Cunningham v. Federal Bureau of Prisons]]''.<ref name="NYTM032615">{{cite news |author1=Mark Binelli |date=March 26, 2015 |title=Inside America's Toughest Federal Prison For years, conditions inside the United States' only federal supermax facility were largely a mystery. But a landmark lawsuit is finally revealing the harsh world within. |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/29/magazine/inside-americas-toughest-federal-prison.html |access-date=March 29, 2015}}</ref>
==Offices== [[File:Thurman Arnold Building - Washington, DC.jpg|thumb|180px|Thurman Arnold Building is the former location of Arnold & Porter's offices in [[Washington, D.C.]] The firm relocated to 601 Mass. Ave NW in 2015.]] * {{flagicon|The Netherlands}} [[Amsterdam, the Netherlands]] * {{flagicon|United States}} [[Boston, Massachusetts]] * {{flagicon|Belgium}} [[Brussels, Belgium]] * {{flagicon|United States}} [[Chicago, Illinois]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Arnold & Porter Moves Into Popular Chicago Skyscraper - Law360 Pulse |url=https://www.law360.com/pulse/articles/2463810/arnold-porter-moves-into-popular-chicago-skyscraper |access-date=2026-05-14 |website=www.law360.com |language=en}}</ref> * {{flagicon|United States}} [[Denver, Colorado]] * {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[London, United Kingdom]] * {{flagicon|United States}} [[Los Angeles, California]] * {{flagicon|United States}} [[Houston, Texas]] * {{flagicon|United States}} [[Newark, New Jersey]] * {{flagicon|United States}} [[New York, New York]] * {{flagicon|United States}} [[Palo Alto, California]] * {{flagicon|United States}} [[San Francisco, California]] * {{flagicon|United States}} [[Seattle|Seattle, Washington]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thomas |first=David |date=2025-07-28 |title=Law firm Arnold & Porter opens Seattle office |url=https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/law-firm-arnold-porter-opens-seattle-office-2025-07-28/ |access-date=2026-05-14 |website=Reuters}}</ref> * {{flagicon|South Korea}} [[Seoul, South Korea]] * {{flagicon|China}} [[Shanghai, China]] * {{flagicon|United States}} [[Washington, D.C.]]
==Notable people== [[File:Thurman Arnold.jpg|thumb|180px|[[Thurman Arnold]]]] [[File:Paul A. Porter LCCN2017699873.jpg|thumb|180px|[[Paul A. Porter|Paul Porter]]]] [[File:SCOTUS Justice Abe Fortas.jpeg|thumb|180px|[[Abe Fortas]]]] [[File:Attorney General Merrick Garland.jpg|thumb|180px|[[Merrick Garland]]]] *[[Clifford Alexander Jr.|Clifford Alexander]] - U.S. [[United States Secretary of the Army|Secretary of the Army]], chairman of the [[Equal Employment Opportunity Commission]], and presidential advisor *[[Thurman Arnold]], founder — U.S. Court of Appeals Judge for the [[D.C. Circuit]], [[Yale Law School]] Professor<ref>{{Cite news |last=Olson |first=Elizabeth |date=2016-11-10 |title=Law Firm Arnold & Porter to Merge With Rival Kaye Scholer |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/11/business/dealbook/law-firm-arnold-porter-to-merge-with-rival-kaye-scholer.html |access-date=2023-02-11 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> *[[William Baer (antitrust lawyer)|William Baer]] — [[United States Department of Justice]] [[United States Assistant Attorney General|Assistant Attorney General]], Antitrust Division<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 17, 2018 |first=David |last=Dayen |authorlink=David Dayen|title=An Equifax and Facebook Lawyer Will Now Run the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection |url=https://theintercept.com/2018/05/17/ftc-bureau-of-consumer-protection-director-andrew-smith/ |access-date=2023-02-11 |website=The Intercept |language=en}}</ref> *Naomi Biden — lawyer and granddaughter of U.S. President [[Joe Biden]] *[[David Bonderman]] (born 1942) — businessman *[[Brooksley Born]] — Chairwoman, U.S. [[Commodity Futures Trading Commission]] *[[Joseph A. Califano]] — U.S. [[Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare]], Chairman of the National Center of Addiction and Substance Abuse *[[Pamela Ki Mai Chen]] — United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York *[[Eli Whitney Debevoise II]] — U.S. Executive Director of the [[World Bank]] *[[Mary DeRosa]] — former Deputy Counsel to the President for National Security Affairs in the [[Obama administration]] *[[Chris Dodd]] — former Democratic Senator, [[Connecticut]]<ref>{{Cite news |last=Munson |first=Emilie |date=2021-05-28 |title=Former Sen. Chris Dodd will work for Biden, but not as ambassador |url=https://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Former-Sen-Chris-Dodd-will-work-for-Biden-but-16208571.php |access-date=2023-02-11 |website=Connecticut Post |language=en-US}}</ref> *[[Allison H. Eid]] — Judge of the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit]] *[[John Hart Ely]] — legal scholar and former dean of [[Stanford Law School]] *[[Abe Fortas]], founder — [[Supreme Court Justice]], [[Yale Law School]] professor *[[Merrick Garland]] — former [[United States Attorney General|Attorney General of the United States]], former U.S. Court of Appeals Chief Judge for the [[D.C. Circuit]], 2016 nominee to the Supreme Court to replace [[Antonin Scalia]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lightning Strikes Twice at Arnold & Porter with Merrick Garland Nomination |url=https://www.law.com/nationallawjournal/almID/1202752448084/ |access-date=2023-02-11 |website=National Law Journal |language=en}}</ref> *[[Sherilyn Peace Garnett]] — Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California *[[Michael Gerrard]] — [[Columbia Law School]] professor, former partner in charge of the firm's New York City office *[[Charles Halpern]] — Founder of the Center for Law and Social Policy, first Dean of [[City University of New York School of Law]], [[Berkeley School of Law]] professor * [[Kenneth I. Juster]] — Under Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration * [[Timothy J. Kelly]] — Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia * [[Abe Krash]] – partner, legal scholar, contributor to ''[[Gideon v. Wainwright]]'' (1963), [[Georgetown University Law Center|Georgetown Law]] professor * [[David Lammy]] - U.K. [[Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom)|Foreign Secretary]] worked for Howard Rice which was acquired by Arnold & Porter *[[Irvin B. Nathan]] — Attorney General of the [[District of Columbia]], General Counsel of the [[United States House of Representatives]] *[[Matthew G. Olsen]] — Director of the [[National Counterterrorism Center]] and former General Counsel of the [[National Security Agency]] *[[Paul A. Porter]], founder — Chairman of the [[Federal Communications Commission]] *[[Margaret M. Morrow]] — United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California *[[Jack Quinn (lawyer)|Jack Quinn]] — former Clinton White House counsel and founder of [[Quinn Gillespie & Associates]] *[[Sarah Bloom Raskin]] — member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System *[[Charles A. Reich]] — legal and social scholar *[[William D. Rogers]] — President, [[American Society of International Law]], [[Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs|Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs]], [[Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs]] *[[Jonathan Schiller]] — co-founder and managing partner, [[Boies Schiller Flexner LLP]] *[[Dov Seidman]] — author, columnist and businessman
== References == {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{Official|arnoldporter.com}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnold and Porter}} [[Category:Arnold & Porter people| ]] [[Category:Law firms based in Washington, D.C.]] [[Category:Law firms established in 1946]] [[Category:1946 establishments in Washington, D.C.]] [[Category:Corporate law firms]]