Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz

Tax

Deborah L. Paul is a partner in the Tax Department at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz where she specializes in the tax aspects of corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, spinoffs and financial instruments.  Debbie has been the principal tax lawyer on numerous domestic and cross-border transactions, including strategic acquisitions and private equity buyouts, in a wide array of industries. 

Debbie is a frequent speaker at Practising Law Institute and New York State Bar Association conferences on tax aspects of mergers and acquisitions and related topics.  She is recognized as a leading tax lawyer by Chambers USA (Band 1, ranked 22 years), the Legal 500 (Hall of Fame), Super Lawyers (Top 50 Women New York 2007-09, 2011-12) and Lawdragon (Top 500 Dealmaker 2026) and was recently named a Who’s Who Legal Global Elite Thought Leader in Corporate Tax, and was featured in Bloomberg Law’s “Five Questions” series.  She was elected partner in 2000.  Debbie was the 2019 Chair of the Tax Section of the New York State Bar Association.

Debbie is a Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School teaching International Tax and a Visiting Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School teaching International Tax.  Prior to joining Wachtell Lipton in 1997, Debbie was an Assistant Professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (1995-1997) and an Acting Assistant Professor at New York University School of Law (1994-1995).

• Harvard University, A.B. 1986

• Harvard Law School, J.D. 1989

• New York University School of Law, LL.M. 1994