A partner and co-chair of the Litigation Department, Ted Wells has extensive experience in white-collar defense and complex civil and corporate litigation, including SEC investigations, healthcare fraud, FCPA, AML and OFAC investigations, high-profile environmental matters and complex class action litigation. For more than three decades, prominent business figures and politicians, and leading companies in a range of industries have entrusted their gravest legal challenges to him. In particular, Ted is among the nation’s best-regarded trial lawyers, having tried numerous multibillion-dollar cases before judges and juries. Clients have recognized Ted as "an outstanding lawyer who provides sage advice on the most complex of subjects” adding that “he commands respect in every venue in which he appears."
The National Law Journal named Ted one of “The Decade’s Most Influential Lawyers” in 2010 and over the years has repeatedly recognized him as one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America, including naming him the “Lawyer of the Year” in 2006. Ted has also been recognized as one of the outstanding jury trial lawyers in the United States by numerous publications, including Chambers USA, which has noted that Ted “is considered by many to be ‘the best trial lawyer in the country.’” Since 2013, Chambers USA has named Ted a Star Individual in three categories: nationwide trial litigation, New York general commercial litigation and New York white-collar crime and government investigations and was recently recognized in the nationwide spotlight table for crisis management. Benchmark Litigation has named him in similar categories, including winning individual recognition as “Trial Lawyer of the Year” for 2019, and being inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2020. The Legal 500 has recognized him as a Leading Lawyer in white-collar criminal defense and as a Leading Trial Lawyer. Additionally, in 2018 and 2019, Chambers USA named Ted a Recognized Practitioner in sports law, and in 2018 The Legal 500 recommended him in the antitrust-cartel category. Ted has also been named to The National Law Journal’s 2015 “Litigation Trailblazers” list, which honors 50 individuals who have changed the practice of litigation through the use of innovative legal strategies. Ted has been named The American Lawyer’s “Litigator of the Week” multiple times, including in 2019 for his work on behalf of ExxonMobil in a landmark $1.6 billion climate-change lawsuit brought by the New York Attorney General’s office and for his successful defense of New Jersey governor Phil Murphy in a high profile preliminary injunction matter. In 2017, Ted received the New York Law Journal’s “Lifetime Achievement” award.
Ted served as an editor of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review.
Updated Sep 2024
