He used to drive a New York City cab. Now, he’s in court going head-to-head with the world’s richest man.
William Savitt has been spending the last couple of weeks in an Oakland, California courtroom representing Sam Altman and OpenAI in a blockbuster trial brought by Elon Musk.
As the co-chair of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz’s executive committee and its litigation practice, he’s the elite Wall Street firm’s top enforcer.
Before his 25-year career at Wachtell, Savitt had an unusual career path. A Philadelphia native, he drove cabs and played in a series of rock bands before going to Columbia Law School. Savitt clerked for Judge Pierre Leval on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and then Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg before landing at Wachtell. Over the years, he’s represented numerous major companies — and Brad Pitt.
Savitt, like many lawyers, prefers to resolve a dispute and avoid the spotlight of a public lawsuit. But if the battle reaches a courtroom, Savitt relishes the litigation process. The “light of cross-examination,” he told Business Insider, is “one of the greatest devices for the exposure of reality.”
We spoke to Savitt before the trial about his career and for advice for young lawyers looking to pave their own path in the field — and what he looks for in a job candidate.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
You clerked for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Looking back, what is the most lasting advice you received, or a specific habit that you observed, that you picked up from her?
RBG was a lawyer’s lawyer before she became a judge’s judge. She had many legal superpowers, but one habit of mind that distinguished her: She would always — always — begin reasoning from first principles.
She knew, and taught her clerks, that every point she’d argued and every issue she’d resolve was only the small tip of a very large pyramid with a very large base. To understand the point at the top, you had to understand every point all the way up.
Courtesy William Savitt
This was part of RBG’s genius, and an approach to legal thinking that I try to put to work every day. I should add that Justice Ginsburg had a remarkable capacity to reserve judgment, to keep an open mind. And that’s another skill that I try to mimic — because it allows the lawyer, no less than the judge, to spot weaknesses and opportunities.
At Wachtell, you’re the one interviewing young lawyers and jumpstarting their professional careers. What is the one interview question you always ask a candidate, and what does their answer reveal to you about their potential?
I don’t have a magic question or a magic answer. But what I’m always most interested in evaluating is curiosity and skepticism.
Curiosity is key because it signals interest and enthusiasm. A curious lawyer will keep learning about being an advocate, and keep learning how to best apply that learning.
Skepticism because it signals rigor and restlessness. We are daily bombarded, as people and lawyers, with information, points of view, briefs, term sheets. Much of all that is just wrong; all of it can be improved and attacked. The best lawyers won’t accept a legal theory or position until they’ve tested it to the point of exhaustion
You’ve represented clients who are both obscure and famous. How do you approach taking on the more visible clients? Do they require a special touch inside or outside the courtroom?
Every client requires a special touch! The art of the lawyer is to understand your client — to listen to your client — no matter who he or she might be. And that’s also part of the joy of the job. It’s hugely gratifying to figure out how to make a client comfortable while doing the hard and sometimes difficult work necessary to best solve their problem.
You spent your 20s playing in a rock band, driving a cab, and getting by on odd jobs before you went to law school. Can you share one skill you mastered during that period of your life that you find yourself using in the courtroom or other high-stakes situations?
Embrace surprises, enjoy the ride. The great adventure of driving a yellow cab in New York City is that you have no idea who you are going to meet next and no idea where you are going next. Or what on earth might happen in the backseat.
Courtesy William Savitt
Most fares were uneventful but some aren’t. And along the way, you meet some interesting people and go places you never otherwise would go.
Working with a band is humbling and exhilarating all at once. Our band never quite landed the record deal we wanted but we had great fun playing around New York and the East Coast.
For a young person today who feels they don’t fit the “traditional” mold of a career lawyer, what is the one piece of advice you’d give them for breaking into this field and setting their own path?
A great computer scientist — one of the fathers of artificial intelligence — said that the best way to predict the future is to invent it. There’s a ton of wisdom in that.
There’s no door not open to a young lawyer. Figure out what you want to spend your time doing — reading cases, arguing in court, fighting on deal terms, defending the indigent, or something entirely different — and look for a throughline to make it happen. It nearly certainly won’t work as planned, and you nearly certainly won’t end up where you expect, because no one does. But you’ll own your career. It’ll be yours, and therein lies the satisfaction.
