Davis Polk corporate partner leaves for in-house position

One of the top partners at New York giant Davis Polk & Wardwell is going in-house to professional services company Marsh & McLennan Companies.

William Rosoff joined Davis Polk in 1978 and has been a partner since 1985. He joins Marsh & McLennan as senior vice president and general counsel.

Rosoff left Davis Polk in 1998 to spend two years as senior vice president and general counsel of RJR Nabisco, returning in February this year.

At Davis Polk he was a partner in the litigation and corporate departments, focusing on mergers and acquisitions. This year, he has worked as lead counsel in the sale of Nabisco to Philip Morris and the sale of Nabisco Group Holdings to RJ Reynolds Tobacco.

Marsh & McLennan is a global professional services company listed on the New York, Chicago, Pacific and London stock exchanges. It has annual revenues in excess of $9bn (£5.5bn) and is the parent company of risk and insurance services company Marsh, investment management company Putnam Investments and consultants Mercer Consulting Group.

Rosoff will report to chairman and chief executive officer Jeffrey Greenberg, and replaces Gregory Van Gundy, who has been general counsel since 1979 and will stay on as corporate secretary.

Davis Polk is one of the most profitable firms in New York, with profits per partner of $1.6m (£1m). The firm has offices in Silicon Valley, Washington DC, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Tokyo and Hong Kong.