Neal Stoll

Mr. Neal Stoll initially intended to earn a PhD in European history and then teach at the college level. His college advisor, who became one of his biggest mentors, related to Mr. Stoll about the difficulty of achieving this. He then made a suggestion that he should consider getting a law degree because with a law degree, career options are very wide- he could teach, go into practice, or work in various industries. Seeing the big picture, Mr. Stoll decided to follow through in this venture. He first earned a Bachelor of Arts in history from Pennsylvania State University with distinction in 1970 and continued at Fordham University to earn a JD in 1973.

That same year, Mr. Stoll began practicing as an associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. In 1981, he was made partner at the firm. In 2018, Mr. Stoll retired from the firm’s current form, Skadden Arps LLP. While there are many highlights in his career spanning more than four decades, one in particular that stands out is his work on the merger between Deloitte & Touche. At the same time that this acquisition was announced, the acquisition of Ernst & Young of Young, which was the smallest one, was going through the review process so they were going to have a reduction from eight to six. The Justice Department really focused on this transaction. Mr. Stoll was called in to speak to the Chairman of Deloitte and his executive groups and as it turned out the deal was successful. He essentially came up with the theory that was going to be the key reason and the Ernst & Young lawyers hung in the background because the theory applied to both of them. The thing that stands out with this transaction was that he got a call after the companies merged from the Chairman telling him he had never been involved in a transaction where the lawyer actually saw the future steps as clearly as he did because everything he told them in terms of what was going to happen down the road happened. It was quite a compliment.

In addition to practicing law, Mr. Stoll lectured at the Practicing Law Institute in the 1990s and co-authored such works as “Acquisitions Under the Hart Scott Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act” in addition to numerous articles and professional publications. He also co-authored the Antitrust and Trade Regulation Column for the New York Law Journal from 1981 to 2013. In his career, he has been recognized on numerous occasions, including 2001’s Penn State Liberal Arts Graduate Achievement Award, a Top New York Lawyer Award, and being awarded the Woodrow Wilson Scholarship from the Department of History in 1969. He maintained professional affiliation with the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the American Bar Association and the New York State Bar Association.