Jacob Kling Bio

Jacob Kling is a partner in Wachtell Lipton’s Corporate Department. Jake’s practice primarily focuses on mergers, acquisitions and dispositions, securities law matters, and advising companies and boards of directors on takeover defense, shareholder activism and general corporate governance matters. He has advised a broad range of public and private clients across multiple industries, including banking, financial services, healthcare and pharmaceutical, life sciences, technology, media and telecom, sports, industrial, retail, private equity and real estate. In 2023, The American Lawyer named Jake the “Young Lawyer of the Year—Corporate”, selecting him as the top corporate lawyer in the country under the age of 40. Jake was also named a “Dealmaker of the Year” by the New York Law Journal, was one of five M&A lawyers chosen as a Law360 MVP, was one of four M&A lawyers selected for Bloomberg Law’s “They’ve Got Next: The 40 Under 40” awards, and was named one of the 500 Leading Dealmakers in America by Lawdragon. In 2024, Jake was named to the Forbes inaugural list of America’s Top 200 Lawyers, and was one of seven M&A lawyers included on the list nationwide. Jake was previously recognized by Law360 as a “Rising Star” in M&A and was also named a “Rising Star” by The Deal.