Andrew W. Needham

Who is Andrew W. Needham?

Andrew W. Needham is a prominent American tax lawyer. He is currently a partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, entering the prestigious law firm as a rare lateral partner in 2005 from Willkie Farr & Gallagher. Needham was among the Cravath partners who advised Johnson & Johnson in its 2011 purchase of Synthes, Inc. for $21.3 billion. The purchase of Synthes is the largest acquisition by Johnson & Johnson in its entire 125-year history.

A native of Albany, New York, Needham attended the University of Arizona, receiving his B.A. in 1982. He earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1986, as well as his Master of Laws in Taxation LL.M. in 1990. Needham also holds an M.B.A. from the Wharton School.

Needham became a partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher in 1997. In 2005, he was hired as lateral partner by Cravath, Swaine & Moore. He was the firm's first true lateral partner in more than six decades, since Roswell Magill, a former Treasury Department official, who became a Cravath tax partner in 1943.