Big Moves for Two W&L Law Alumnae
Two Washington and Lee University School of Law graduates were featured in the national legal press for major career moves.
On July 21, The American Lawyer announced that Andrea Wahlquist ’95L has joined the New York law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz as a partner in their executive compensation and employee benefits practice. According to the publication, Wahlquist is only the firm’s fourth partner-level lateral hire in its long history.
Wahlquist was previously a partner at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, where she was part of a team of lawyers honored by The American Lawyer as Dealmakers of the Year in 2007 for their work on behalf of longtime private equity client KKR. During her legal career, she has been recognized as a leading lawyer in the field of executive compensation and employee benefits by publications such as The Best Lawyers in America, Chambers USA Guide to America’s Leading Lawyers for Business and The Legal 500, with an emphasis in representing target companies in strategic mergers and a background in representing some of the largest private equity sponsors in the acquisition, management and disposition of their portfolio companies.
At W&L Law, Wahlquist was editor in chief of the Environmental Law Digest. She is a member of the W&L Law Council, an advisory board to the dean of the law school.
Earlier this month, The Daily Report announced that Lizanne Thomas ’82L, partner-in-charge of the Atlanta office of Jones Day, is taking on the newly created position of regional partner-in-charge for the firm’s South region, overseeing its Atlanta, Dallas and Houston offices.
Thomas told the Daily Report that the regional oversight role is more big-picture than heading an office.
“My responsibilities are more externally focused on business development and coordinating the entire region,” Thomas said. “There is less day-in and day-out management.”
Thomas, who had been the partner-in-charge for Atlanta since 2008, also heads Jones Day’s corporate governance practice, advising corporate boards in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East and Asia. She participates in more than 100 board meetings per year as counsel to a number of public companies. She has lectured on governance to leading business organizations, companies, and universities throughout the world. She represents special committees in going private and other control transactions, as well as internal investigations involving issues from financial restatements to allegations of executive misconduct.
Thomas was managing editor of the Law Review while at W&L. She is a former member of the School’s Law Council and was recently elected to the University’s Board of Trustees.
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