Eric M Roth is of counsel at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Mr Roth's practice has included corporate, securities, insurance, creditors' rights and other complex commercial litigation matters. He has been involved in several landmark cases, including the World Trade Center coverage litigation, and numerous matters involving mergers and acquisitions, including, among others, defending the legality of the "poison pill" and a target board’s ability to “just say no,” obtaining specific performance of a merger agreement on behalf of the selling corporation and enjoining a defensive restructuring on behalf of a hostile bidder.

Mr Roth received a BA, with distinction in all subjects, from Cornell University in 1974, and a JD from New York University School of Law in 1977. He served as a member of the New York University Law Review and was the notes and comment editor during his last year. After graduating, he clerked for the Honorable Lee P Gagliardi of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, before joining Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz in 1979.

Mr Roth is the former chairman and current member of the Board of Directors of the MFY Legal Services, Inc, which provides free legal representation in civil matters to the poor and the mentally ill in New York City. He also serves as a member of the Cornell University President's Circle and the Board of Trustees of the Law Center Foundation at the New York University School of Law.

Mr Roth is admitted to practise in the State of New York and the District of Columbia. His court admissions include the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Fourth, Fifth, Eighth, Ninth, Eleventh and the District of Columbia Circuits, and the United States Supreme Court. He is a member of the New York State Bar Association, the District of Columbia Bar, the American Bar Association and the Federal Bar Council.

WWL says: Eric Roth is described as “perhaps the best all-round lawyer I’ve ever known or seen”, being frequently involved in merger litigation, insurance and creditors’ rights cases.