Ropes & Gray

Founding to 20th century (1865 - 2000)

The firm was founded in 1865 by two Harvard Law School graduates, John Codman Ropes and John Chipman Gray, Jr.. In 1878, William Loring, also a Harvard graduate, joined the firm, and it was renamed "Ropes, Gray and Loring" until Loring's departure in 1899, when he was appointed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court,[1][2] and the firm was renamed as "Ropes, Gray and Gorham" with the addition of Robert Gorham. Following Gorham’s death, the firm was renamed Ropes, Gray, Boyden & Perkins in 1914, adding Roland Boyden and Thomas Perkins as name partners.[3]

The firm began with representation of, mainly, individuals, and Harvard University. With the addition of Loring, in 1878, the New York and New England Railroad became a client, and the firm began its shift to corporate law, growing to 11 lawyers and 15 staff by 1910.[3]

The firm grew during the 20th century, developing a bankruptcy practice during the Great Depression, a labor practice in response to The New Deal, and adding financial reports to its services after the creation of the SEC.[4]

In 1940, the firm's name was changed to Ropes, Gray, Best, Coolidge & Rugg, until 1961, when its original name, "Ropes & Gray" was again adopted.[5]

In 1942, a book written by Albert Boyden, which chronicles the history of the firm, was published under the title Ropes-Gray, 1865-1940.[6]

21st century

In 2003, the firm acquired New York City based private equity law firm Reboul, MacMurray, Hewitt & Maynard.[7] In 2005, it acquired NYC-based intellectual property law firm Fish & Neave.[8] Two years later, the firm opened its first international office in Tokyo,[9][10] followed by an office in London, in 2010.[11]

In 2012, the Korean Bar Association approved Ropes & Gray as the first Foreign Legal Consultant Office in Korean history, allowing the firm to open an eleventh office, in Seoul.[12] At the time, Ropes & Gray had 1,100 lawyers and had expanded its presence in Asia with offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and in Tokyo.[13]

In 2017, the firm elected Julie Jones as chair, who had been a member of its management committee since 2011. After serving as chair-elect for two years, Jones took the helm in 2020, as the first woman to chair the firm.[14][15] In 2024, as Jones was re-elected to another five-year term, Neill Jakobe was elected to serve a five-year term as vice chair.[16]

In 2023, the firm opened an office in Dublin, Ireland. Later that year, in July, Ropes & Gray announced the relocation of some Shanghai-based lawyers to its Hong Kong operation and the launch of an office in Singapore.[17][18]

In November 2023, amid antisemitic incidents at U.S. law schools,[19][20][21] Ropes & Gray was among a group of law firms that sent a letter to law school deans warning them that an escalation in incidents targeting Jewish students would have corporate hiring consequences. The letter stated: "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."[22]

In 2024, the firm, previously 16th, was ranked 24th in the London Stock Exchange Group's global M&A legal advisor rankings, reflecting more than 200 deals valued at $136.8 billion.

In September 2025, Ropes & Gray opened its fourth European office, in Milan,[23] raising its office count to 15, with seven U.S. offices, in Boston, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Palo Alto, and other international offices in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul, Singapore, Dublin, London, and Paris.[24][25]

Cases litigated by Ropes & Gray include:

• Firm partner Joan McPhee defended former BP engineer Kurt Mix against obstruction of justice charges related to the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, with charges dropped in 2015.[29]
• Representing the plaintiffs in Obergefell v. Hodges, in 2015. Attorney Doug Hallward-Driemeier argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that states must recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere.[30][31][32][33][34]
• Representing Gawker in its 2016 Chapter 11 filing.[35]
• Defending physicians' First Amendment rights in Wollschlaeger v. Governor of Florida, in 2017. The case concerned a Florida law banning doctors from inquiring about patients’ gun ownership.[36]
• Ropes & Gray was commissioned by the U.S. Olympic Committee to independently investigate abuse allegations by former USA Gymnastics national team doctor Larry Nassar.[37] The firm released its report, "The Constellation of Factors Underlying Larry Nassar's Abuse of Athletes", in December 2018.[37][38]
• Representing Willkie Farr & Gallagher (then) co-chairman Gordon Caplan, JD, who was arrested in March 2019 as a parent participant in the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal. Caplan is represented by firm partners Joshua Levy and Michael McGovern.[39] A guilty plea deal in United States v. Gordon Caplan was filed by United States Attorney Andrew Lelling on March 27, 2019.[40][41] An Assistant United States Attorney prosecuting the case, Leslie Wright, is a Ropes & Gray alumna.[42]
• Represented Harris Associates in March 2010, with the Supreme Court's ruling in Jones v. Harris Associates establishing the standard governing claims of excessive mutual fund fees under § 36(b) of the Investment Company Act of 1940.[43]

Firm lawyers have advised companies on business transactions including:

• Bain Capital acquisitions, in 2008, of Clear Channel Communications, with Thomas H. Lee, for $26 billion,[44] and The Weather Channel, with Blackstone Group,[45] and its 2009 purchase of Bellsystem24[46]
• TPG Capital and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board's $5.2 billion acquisition of IMS Health Inc., in 2009[47]
• Genzyme Corporation's $2.9 billion deal with Bayer Schering Pharma AG, in 2010, granting Genzyme rights to market cancer drugs and control a program in multiple sclerosis.[48]
• NSTAR's 2010 merger with Northeast Utilities for $7.1 billion[49]
• TPG Capital's 2010 acquisition of J.Crew for $3 billion[50]
• Bare Escentuals 2010 merger with Shiseido of Japan, for $1.7 billionl[51]
• Bain Capital's 2011 majority acquisition of MYOB[52]
• Genzyme's 2011 acquisition by Sanofi-Aventis, for $20.1 billion[53]
• China Everbright, in a 2012 acquisition, with Carlyle Group and other partners, of Focus Media, in a $3.5 billion transaction[54]
• Berkshire Partners' 2012 acquisition of Lightower Fiber Networks and Sidera Networks for $2 billion[55]
• Crown Castle International's 2017 acquisition of Lightower Fiber Networks for about $7.1 billion[56]
• Genstar Capital investment in Alera Group[57]
• Bain Capital's 2018 sale by Toshiba Corp. of its semiconductor business to a group that included Apple, Seagate, Kingston, Hoya, Dell Technologies, and SK Hynix, in Asia's largest leveraged buyout and private equity deal to date, valued at approximately $18 billion[58]
• Inspire Brands' 2020 acquisition of Dunkin' Donuts, for $11.3 billion[59]
• Altimeter Growth Corp., in its 2021 merger to take Grab public for $39.6 billion, the largest SPAC merger to date[60]
• Nippon Steel Corporation's 2023 agreement to purchase U.S. Steel for $14 billion[61]
• Advised National Amusements, Inc. (NAI) during its sale to affiliates of the Ellison Family and Redbird Capital Partners for $2.4 billion in the Paramount-Skydance Merger in 2024[62][63]
• Cardinal Health's 2024 $1.1 billion acquisition of Integrated Oncology Network[64]
• Advised on U.S. and UK aspects of Altice France S.A. and Altice France Holding S.A. balance sheet restructuring of over €24 billion of debt, in 2025[65][66]
• Evident Corporation's 2025 $1.8 billion sale of Inspection Technologies division to Wabtec Corporation[67][68]
• NIQ Global Intelligence's $1.1 billion IPO in 2025[69]
• New Mountain Capital And Francisco Partners growth investment in Office Ally[70][71]

Founding & Named Partners

• John Chipman Gray (founding partner), property law scholar
• John Codman Ropes (founding partner), military historian
• William Loring (named partner), Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court; Harvard Law School professor; general counsel of the New York and New England Railroad

Current partners

• Mark Barnes (partner), activist, academic, former Chief Research Compliance Officer at Harvard University[80][81]
• Joshua S. Levy (partner), United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts[82]
• Jane Willis (partner), a member of the MIT Blackjack Team[83]
• R. Bradford Malt (chairman, 2004–19), sole trustee of Mitt Romney’s blind trusts during his tenure as Governor and two presidential campaigns.[84]

Former partners

• Eleanor D. Acheson (associate 1974–83; partner, 1983–93), Amtrak executive; Assistant Attorney General of the United States[85]
• Diane Bemus Patrick (partner), First Lady of Massachusetts (2007–15)[86]
• Elliot Richardson (associate, 1949–53, 1955–57; partner, 1961–65); U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare (1970–73); U.S. Secretary of Defense (1973); U.S. Attorney General (1973); U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom (1975–76); U.S. Secretary of Commerce (1976–77)[87]
• John Richardson (1911–1970s; hiring partner), Republican National Committeeman from Massachusetts (1932–36)
• James Vorenberg (associate, 1954–60; partner, 1960–62), Dean of the Faculty of Law of Harvard University[88]
• Dalila Argaez Wendlandt (partner), Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court[89]
• Keith Wofford, partner[90]

Judiciary Association

• Michael P. Allen, Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims[91]
• Janis M. Berry (partner, 1986–97), Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court[92]
• Levin H. Campbell, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit[93][94]
• Jennifer Choe-Groves, Judge of the United States Court of International Trade[95]
• Bessie Dewar (associate), Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court[96]
• Olin M. Jeffords (associate, 1919–21), Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court

Government and Politics

• Michael J. Astrue, associate (1984–85), poet, and Commissioner of the Social Security Administration[97][98]
• William Birdthistle (associate, 2001–06), director of the Securities and Exchange Commission Division of Investment Management[99]
• Robert F. Bradford, 57th Governor of Massachusetts[100]
• Allison G. Catheron, member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
• Archibald Cox (associate, 1938–45), U.S. Solicitor General and special prosecutor for the Watergate scandal[101]
• John Demers (associate, 2000–03), United States Associate Attorney General for the United States Department of Justice National Security Division[102]
• Rebecca Haffajee (associate), acting Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Planning and Evaluation[103]
• George S. Hawkins, general manager of the DC Water and Sewer Authority[104]
• Horace Hildreth, 59th Governor of Maine
• Nikolas P. Kerest (associate, 2001–04), United States Attorney for the District of Vermont[105]
• Cheryl LaFleur, commissioner of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission[106]
• Henry Cabot Lodge (associate, 1875–80), United States Senator from Massachusetts
• Heather Sanborn, member of the Maine Senate[107]
• Henry Lee Shattuck, member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, member of the Boston City Council; philanthropist
• Christopher Taylor (associate), Mayor of Ann Arbor, Michigan
• Robert Troyer (associate, 1990–93), United States Attorney for the District of Colorado[108]
• Louis C. Wyman, (associate) United States Senator and United States Representative from New Hampshire[109]
• Henry Adams, historian; member of the Adams political family
• Brooks Adams, historian; member of the Adams political family
• George H. Lyman (associate), chairman of the Massachusetts Republican state committee and Collector of the Port of Boston
• Frederick Charles Lough, decorated veteran of World War II; brigadier general in the United States Army

Academia/education

• Yochai Benkler (associate, 1994–95), professor at Harvard Law School[110]
• Robert C. Clark (associate, 1972–74), Dean of the Faculty of Law at Harvard University[111]
• Lee M. Friedman (associate, 1895–97), lawyer and historian
• Theodore Ruger, dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Law[112]
• Clayton Spencer (associate, 1986–1989), president of Bates College[113]
• David O. Stewart, author[114]

Other notable fields/diverse disciplines

• Marta Belcher (attorney), blockchain law pioneer
• Eric Bjornlund, co-founder of Democracy International
• John F. Bok (associate, 1955–c. 1960s), Boston municipal lawyer
• Joan Toland Bok (associate, 1955–59), chair of New England Electric and director of Avery Dennison[115]
• Isabelle Kinsolving (associate, 2012–22), member of the 2004 United States Olympic rowing team[116]
• John Kingston III (associate), general counsel of Affiliated Managers Group
• John Palfrey (associate, 2001–02), president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation[117]
• Charles Soule, comic book writer for Marvel Comics[118]