David M. Adlerstein is counsel in the Corporate Department at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. His practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, capital-raising transactions, corporate governance, and other corporate and securities law matters, with a focus on financial institutions and technology transactions. Mr. Adlerstein has worked on a broad array of public and private company acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures (including numerous credit card programs), securities offerings and corporate governance matters. He is a member of the Firm’s Crypto Team and frequently writes and speaks about blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies and smart contracts. He also provides counsel to several nonprofit organizations on a pro bono basis.

Select recent representations include United Technologies in its separation into three independent public companies, Cardworks in its announced $2.65 billion sale to Ally Financial and Capital One in its credit card program with Walmart and sale of its $17 billion mortgage portfolio.

Born in Cambridge, England, Mr. Adlerstein received a B.A. cum laude in Philosophy and History from Brandeis University in 1994 and a M.A. in European Politics from Lund University in Lund, Sweden in 1999. He received his J.D. from Columbia Law School in 2002, where he was a notes editor of the Columbia Law Review and a three-time Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.

Prior to joining Wachtell Lipton as a corporate associate in 2005, Mr. Adlerstein was an associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP. Before beginning his legal career, Mr. Adlerstein served as a sergeant in the Paratroopers Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces.

Mr. Adlerstein is a member of The Economic Club of New York and The Wall Street Blockchain Alliance and is Chair of the Financial Services Technology Joint Subcommittee of the ABA Business Law Section’s Commercial Finance Committee and Private Equity & Venture Capital Committee.