Our Platform
22 | 50+ | 4

Skadden's global platform connects attorneys in 50-plus practices across 22 offices on four continents. The range of people and capabilities you’ll encounter through your work here will shape your career, providing opportunities to leverage our collective knowledge for your own growth.
Headline-Making Matters
50% of Fortune 250

With Skadden representing 50% of the Fortune 250, the matters you handle — ones that earn headlines, move markets and shape the law — will accelerate your development. Our training programs are designed to give you the skills, support and mentorship you need to work on our clients’ most complex challenges.
Diversity Champions
8 years | 100% | CEI

As demonstrated by our consistently perfect scores on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's Corporate Equality Index, our diversity is intertwined with our success. We know that a wide spectrum of perspectives, experiences and ideas makes us better. We want you to flourish here because of your unique imprint, not in spite of it.
Making an Impact
236,214 pro bono hours

We believe in giving back, and we want attorneys who have a passion for making a positive impact in the lives of others — last year, our attorneys contributed more than 236,000 pro bono hours in support of our communities, and over the past nine years, they have contributed more than 1.5 million. When it comes to public service, we have two questions: How would you like to give back and what can we do to make it happen?
Career Options
Limitless

While many of our attorneys spend their entire careers here, Skadden has served as a springboard for judges, professors, CEOs, general counsel, bankers, journalists, authors, prosecutors and senior members of federal agencies.

The experience gained and impact made at Skadden will create ripple effects that will last your entire career. Let's begin to carve your path.

Name
Caroline Van Zile
Position
Associate
Practice
Litigation
Office Location
Washington, D.C.
Law School
Yale
Brief Biography
After graduating from law school, Caroline clerked for Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. As a Skadden associate, she has defended a client in a False Claims Act appeal with millions of dollars on the line, handled briefing in a hotly contested criminal insider trading case, and helped media companies secure a victory in front of the FCC that protected their intellectual property and the safety of substantial advertising revenue. Still, when asked about the standout moment of her legal career, Caroline brings up a recent pro bono housing case, in which she helped a D.C.-area family of four stay in their apartment and forced the landlord to bring the unit into compliance with D.C.'s housing and safety code.

Skadden offers Caroline the opportunity to work with leaders in her field on high-stakes litigation while also representing people and communities in need of support. For Caroline, making a difference isn’t just a future aspiration; it’s one of the reasons she’s here.

SCOTUS 2014 Ornament

At the annual Supreme Court holiday party, Caroline enjoyed a round of caroling from the justices and received this ornament in the shape of the Supreme Court building.

Presidential M&M BOX

Following a breakfast in the West Wing, Caroline and her fellow Supreme Court clerks received a parting gift of M&Ms in boxes customized with a presidential seal.

Colorful Pens

Caroline has developed a meticulous system of color-coordinated annotation for her work that allows her to stay organized across a variety of projects, including the time she was briefing a D.C. Circuit appeal, working on a D.C. district court tax case, drafting a complaint in a potential D.C. district court regulatory litigation, and working on her pro bono housing case all at the same time. To keep all the tasks and deadlines straight, she color-coded each case and wrote out day-by-day to-do lists in her organizer.

Supreme Court arguments attended

pro bono hours worked in 2016

406

mentor breaks during first year

Meet Caroline

Name
Tony Sammi
Position
Partner
Practice
Intellectual Property Litigation
Location
New York
Law School
Cornell
Brief Biography
Like many litigators, Tony was inspired to become a trial attorney by the courtroom dramas he watched growing up. Unlike most litigators, Tony studied electrical engineering in college.

At Skadden, Tony’s approach to intellectual property litigation combines his love for a gripping, well-tailored legal story with the ability to transform complicated issues into persuasive, comprehensible arguments. In a $900 million-plus patent action in East Texas, Tony's case hinged on the distinction between "secure" and "encrypted." Knowing he was in the high school football capital of the world, Tony used play-calling as a metaphor: In the huddle, a play is "secure"; when the quarterback calls out a code name at the line ("Omaha!"), it is encrypted. The jury nodded and smiled and, shortly thereafter, found for Tony's client.

Oculus Rift Prototype

One of the perks of handling IP and patent litigation is the "need" to keep some of the evidence in your office, like this first-ever hand-built prototype of an Oculus Rift VR headset. The headset is headed for a VR museum, but not before Tony gets to show it off around the office.

Transit Level

Tony's father and grandfather also were engineers. He keeps his grandfather's transit level and father's original slide rule in his office as reminders that precision and detail are at the heart of both engineering and law.

Mini Dhol

Tony comes from a culture steeped in music and dance. As a nod to his Indian heritage, he keeps a mini dhol in his office, just in case the opportunity to bhangra arises.

Jury award in ZeniMax's VR action against Facebook

$500M

Languages spoken (English, Punjabi, Hindi and, in a pinch, Urdu)

3.5

Founder/first president of NY South Asian Bar Association

Meet Tony

Name
Lance Etcheverry
Position
Partner
Practice
Litigation
Location
Los Angeles & Asia Pacific
Law School
Berkeley
Brief Biography
As a shortstop for the University of Nevada Wolf Pack, Lance envisioned a life on the road — preferably with the San Francisco Giants. After a broken wrist forced him to reconsider his career plans, he decided to attend law school. A leader of Skadden’s litigation and arbitration practice for Asia-based clients and their U.S. subsidiaries, Lance has successfully defended clients against claims totaling more than $500 billion. He splits his time between our Los Angeles and Asia Pacific offices, racking up more frequent flyer miles than he'd ever imagined back in college.

Foreign Currency

One of Lance's tricks for frequent, last-minute travel: Carry a mix of foreign currency in your pocket for any necessities you may need to buy, no matter where you land.

Passports

If having a passport overflowing with stamps and visas is a sign of a frequent traveler, what does it say about Lance that he has two?

Client Business Cards

When he's on the road, Lance's clients are his family. Lance has a very big family.