Partner
Charles Ruck primarily advises on mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, and general corporate and securities matters. He serves as primary outside counsel to a number of public and privately held companies and he regularly represents boards of directors and special committees in complex strategic corporate governance matters. Mr. Ruck is the Global Department Chair of Latham & Watkins’ Corporate Department, a former member of Latham’s Executive Committee, and former Chair of the firm’s Strategic Client Initiative.
Mr. Ruck has experience advising on a variety of transactions, including:
Mr. Ruck has received the following recognition:
Mr. Ruck formerly served as a clerk to Judge David M. Ebel, on the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, and as negotiator for the US Trade Representative at the World Trade Organization in Geneva, Switzerland.
Mr. Ruck has led numerous transactions and been involved with numerous governance matters that involved special committees, including representing:
Mr. Ruck has defended numerous activist shareholder campaigns seeking board representation. He has advised on activist campaigns orchestrated by some of the most notorious activists including Carl Ichan at Trian, Dan Loeb at Third Point, Jeff Ubbenat Value Act and Ralph Whitworth at Relational Investors. He has also been involved in numerous hostile takeover battles, including representing Allergan in the recent ground breaking takeover attempt orchestrated with activist shareholder Bill Ackman and Pershing Square. He has also coordinated strategy for over 100 shareholder proxy proposals involving topics as diverse as proxy access to the ability for shareholders to act by written consent.
Mr. Ruck’s representative M&A transactions include advising:
Mr. Ruck’s capital markets practice includes advising numerous public and private offerings of both debt and equity securities, representing issuers and underwriters, including Allergan, Amgen, Broadcom, and Caesars Entertainment. Additionally, he regularly represents the nation’s top investment banks in their capacities as financial advisors, underwriters, and placement agents.
Latham named 2022 Law Firm Corporate Practice of the Year for outstanding achievements across the firm’s transactional practices.
Latham topped seven finalist firms and earned recognition across categories, including in the Energy and Technology/Telecommunications sectors and Corporate Attorney of the Year.
Latham earns the most finalist spots across transactional categories, and the firm’s commitment to diversity is honored in two categories in AmLaw’s Industry Awards.