Skadden mourns the passing of our friend and former partner Nancy Lieberman, who passed away on April 12 at age 66. Nancy was recognized as one of the nation’s leading M&A attorneys and was a trusted adviser to those she represented — brilliant, innovative, ethical and steadfast in her pursuit of clients’ goals. She became Skadden’s youngest partner ever at age 30, paving the way for generations of other women lawyers and serving as a dedicated mentor.
During her career, Nancy worked on M&A transactions totaling tens of billions of dollars, including many complex, industry-shaping deals. She received several of her field’s highest honors and awards, including The American Lawyer’s Dealmaker of the Year in 2013. Nancy also was named one of Fortune’s top M&A lawyers (1997), one of the National Law Journal’s 50 Most Influential Women Lawyers in America (1998), the University of Chicago Law School’s Alumna of the Year (2014) and the University of Rochester’s Distinguished Alumnus (2012).
Nancy led the fullest of lives, despite sustaining a spinal cord injury in 2007. She went on to co-found New Yorkers to Cure Paralysis and twice succeeded in getting state funds for research reinstated after budget cuts. She retired from the firm in 2019, became an adjunct lecturer at Columbia Law School and authored The Savvy Lawyers Playbook.
We extend our heartfelt condolences to Nancy’s family, including her husband, Mark, and their son, Eric.