Glenn S. Gerstell serves as the managing partner of the Washington, DC office of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, and heads the firm’s global communications practice and its Milbank TAARS® (Tax Account Analysis and Recovery Services) practice. A partner since 1985, he previously served in the firm’s New York (1976-80), Washington (1980-88) offices, and was the managing partner in the firm’s Singapore (1988-89) and Hong Kong (1989-96) offices.
Primary Focus & Experience
Mr. Gerstell is principally focused on the global communications industry, overseeing a wide range of financings, acquisitions and commercial transactions around the globe for telecom operators, equipment vendors and debt and equity investors in the industry. He has led some of the most innovative and complex transactions in the telecom industry, many of which were recognized as “deals of the year” by leading industry publications.
In addition, he is active in cross-border infrastructure development, insolvencies and restructurings, and mergers and acquisitions in various industries, with a particular emphasis on the emerging markets in Latin America and Asia. In that connection, he also coordinates the firm’s India practice.
Recognition & Accomplishments
Chambers Global, Chambers USA, Chambers Latin America, Who’s Who Legal, International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers, Lawdragon’s Leading Lawyers in America, Euromoney’s Expert Guides and other recognized guides to the legal industry have consistently ranked Mr. Gerstell in the top tier of his fields of practice. In 2011, the Chambers Guide (which once again ranked Mr. Gerstell in its highest category) cited him in the telecoms category as “widely acknowledged to be an authority in his practice area,” and Lawdragon magazine named him to its list of the 500 Leading Lawyers in America.
Mr. Gerstell is the general editor of Telecoms Project Documentation, published by Euromoney. A frequent speaker at legal and business conferences, he is also the author of numerous articles on legal topics, and served as Adjunct Professor of Law for several years at Georgetown University in Washington, DC.
Mr. Gerstell currently serves, by appointment of President Obama, as a member of the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, which provides advice to the president and the executive branch on the security of the nation's infrastructure. Mr. Gerstell also serves as a member of the District of Columbia Homeland Security Commission, by appointment of Mayor Vincent Gray. He previously served in a volunteer capacity as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority, an independent agency of the Washington, DC government with an “AA” bond rating that provides drinking water to Washington and wastewater services to the two million people in the metropolitan capital region. He was appointed to the position for two terms, from 2001 to 2007, by the Mayor of the District of Columbia and confirmed by the City Council.
Mr. Gerstell is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the Atlantic Council and a Trustee of the Federal City Council in Washington, DC.