Thomas H. Kennedy

For the past decade, Mr. Kennedy served as global head of Knowledge Strategy for the firm, leading Skadden’s thought leadership, knowledge management and client communications programs across practices and offices. Since early 2020, Mr. Kennedy has served as a strategic advisor to Skadden’s Knowledge Strategy efforts.

In recent years, Mr. Kennedy had been involved in the following transactions, among others:

• Tumi Holdings, Inc. in its sale to Samsonite International S.A. (2016);
• Regulatory Data Corp, Inc. in its sale to Vista Equity Partners (2016);
• Gyrodyne Company of America, an owner of commercial properties, in a series of transactions designed to maximize shareholder value (2012-15); and
• Sprint Nextel Corporation in its acquisition of the remaining 50% stake in Clearwire Corporation that it does not already own (2012); and in its sale of a 78% stake to SoftBank Corporation (Japan). At the time, the SoftBank transaction was the largest-ever overseas acquisition by a Japanese company (named as the Global M&A Deal of the Year: Grand Prize by The American Lawyer) (2012). Both transactions were recognized in the Corporate & Commercial category in the Financial Times’ 2013 U.S. “Innovative Lawyers” report.
• During his years of practice, Mr. Kennedy had significant experience in hostile transactions, leveraged buyouts, bankruptcy and reorganization matters, special committees, and proxy fights and other corporate governance matters. He repeatedly was selected for inclusion in Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, The Best Lawyers in America and Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America. He also served as a co-chair of Skadden’s Opinion Committee and was actively involved in other firm leadership roles. Mr. Kennedy is a member of the New York City Bar Association, where he has been a member of the Committee on Securities Regulation. He is a past chairman of the board of directors and current member of the board of advisors of Lawyers Alliance for New York (LANY), a provider of business and transactional legal services for nonprofit organizations, and was a co-chair of LANY’s 50th anniversary campaign in 2019. Mr. Kennedy is a member of the Georgetown University Law Center Board of Visitors and is a past national chairman of its Annual Fund.