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October 29, 2020
Cadwalader tax chair Linda Swartz received a “Lifetime Achievement Award” yesterday as part of Corporate Counsel’s Women, Influence & Power in Law Awards 2020. The awards honor general counsel and law firm partners who have demonstrated a commitment to advancing the empowerment of women in law and have showed extraordinary leadership in their careers.
In addition to being widely acknowledged as one of the leading tax lawyers in the U.S., Swartz has had a significant impact on the legal industry – specifically, through her prominent leadership roles at Cadwalader and her commitment to the advancement of women and LGBTQ attorneys – and diversity initiatives broadly.
“I am very honored by this award from Corporate Counsel and ALM,” Swartz said. “It has always been very important to me to set a standard for excellence in tax law and to serve my clients with distinction, as well as to be a voice for positive change in the legal industry and in my firm.”
Swartz was an industry leader long before these opportunities were more broadly available to women. She has chaired Cadwalader’s Tax Group for nearly 20 years and has been on the Firm’s Management Committee – one of two LGBTQ women – since 2016.
Swartz’s career achievements span headline-grabbing M&As and mission-critical restructurings. For example, she has advised Procter & Gamble Co., one of the world’s biggest consumer goods companies, as the company’s special tax counsel on a series of multi-billion dollar, highly-structured tax-advantaged transactions over more than a decade. She has also acted as tax counsel on a series of major deals for Pfizer over nearly two decades, including some of the largest-ever deals consummated in the pharmaceutical industry.
Swartz also regularly advises on the special tax issues of troubled and insolvent corporations and partnerships, including debtor and creditor representations in connection with some of the largest bankruptcies filed during the financial crisis. For example, she represented the U.S. Department of the Treasury as outside counsel to the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry, including advising on the historic restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler.
Beyond her important body of legal work, Swartz’s long-time leadership and advocacy on diversity and inclusion initiatives supports the advancement of women and other diverse attorneys. She is the founder of the Cadwalader Taskforce for the Advancement of Women, a committee of women partners and the firm’s Managing Partner, who are focused on improving the firm’s retention and promotion of women and diverse attorneys. Swartz is also a member of the firm’s Global Diversity Oversight Committee, which works to improve the firm’s approach to issues confronting its diverse attorneys. She is a partner sponsor for the Cadwalader LGBTQ affinity network, and is an active member of the firm’s Women’s Leadership Initiative. She is also lead organizer for the firm’s four year-old Civil Rights Series, a program of year-round events that highlight civil rights issues featuring notable individuals and organizations at the forefront of today’s civil rights movement.
Swartz also co-chairs the firm’s Not-for-Profit Incubator, which leverages the transactional expertise of Cadwalader attorneys and paralegals to organize and obtain tax-exempt status on behalf of a diverse range of aspiring not-for-profit organizations.
At the industry level, she has been a Member of the Executive Committee of the New York State Bar Association Tax Section since 1995 and has chaired its Tax-Free Reorganizations, Bankruptcy, Consolidated Returns, Real Property, and Tax Accounting and Basis Committees.
To view a full video recording of the Women, Influence & Power in Law Awards virtual event, please visit here.
