The Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz litigation partner who played center stage in the Central Park viral video embracing a junior colleague is reportedly preparing to leave the firm.
Nathaniel Cullerton remains employed by Wachtell and on leave, according to sources cited by the New York Post, but is said to be in the process of separating from the firm following an internal investigation.
No formal departure date has been confirmed. Wachtell, Cullerton, associate Kelsey Borenzweig and Gibson Dunn had not commented at the time of the Post’s reporting.
The episode began with a TikTok video showing Cullerton and Borenzweig kissing on a Central Park bench. The professional issue centred on the seniority imbalance as Cullerton was a partner and Borenzweig a junior associate in Wachtell’s litigation department. It’s a controversial dynamic that Big Law firms increasingly treat as a material workplace-risk issue.
Cullerton had been expected to join Gibson Dunn as part of the high-profile lateral move led by star trial lawyer Bill Savitt, who faced his own law firm romance story, but theplan was reportedly abandoned following the video.
Reuters reported that Gibson Dunn has a policy prohibiting romantic relationships between partners and associates, more restrictive than the approach at many large US firms, where such relationships may be discouraged or regulated rather than categorically barred.
The story lands amid wider disruption in Wachtell’s litigation ranks. Savitt and five partners, including Sarah Eddy, Anitha Reddy, Randall Jackson, Ryan McLeod and Brad Wilson, have moved to Gibson Dunn’s New York office. Cullerton had been linked to that team move before the Central Park incident intervened.
