Martin H. Neidell ‘68

Martin H. Neidell retired at the end of 2011 after spending almost 40 years at the law firm of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP, where he was a partner in the corporate department and member of the Executive Committee specializing in mergers and acquisitions, public and private securities offerings, private equity, corporate governance and securities law compliance.  He joined Stroock in 1973 after serving two years as a law clerk to a U.S. District Court Judge and became a partner in 1980. Marty currently serves on the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s External Advisory Council and enjoys returning to Lehigh whenever possible. He recently celebrated his 50th reunion at Lehigh and served as a member of the reunion committee.

Marty represented public and private companies, private equity funds and their portfolio companies and public and private REITs in all types of transactions.  Marty was active in many high profile merger and acquisition transactions, including representing the UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust in its $4.3 billion sale of 40% of the stock of Chrysler Corporation owned by it to Fiat that enabled Chrysler to be merged into Fiat; the $1.2 billion acquisition of Lord & Taylor from Federated Department Stores; the $7.5 billion merger of Tosco Corporation (then the largest independent oil refiner that he had represented for over 25 years) into Phillips Petroleum Company; the $8 billion merger of Premcor into Valero Energy Corporation; and the initial public offering of Chelsea Property Group, the preeminent owner and operator of manufacturers’ outlet shopping centers, and its subsequent $4.8 billion merger into Simon Property Group.

At Lehigh, his Government courses (Government was the precursor to the current Political Science Department), emphasized law and governmental issues.  These courses, in particular his Administrative Law class taught by Donald Barry and a Constitutional Law course, whetted his appetite for the law and provided the fundamentals for his ultimate legal career.  The academic environment and experience at Lehigh enabled Marty easily to transition to law school.

Marty lives on Centre Island, Long Island, NY, with his wife Suzan, whom he had dated throughout his 4 years at Lehigh.  They recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. They have two married children and three grandchildren.  Marty has been involved in local community activities, including coaching his son’s little league baseball and soccer teams and serving as a Trustee of North Shore Synagogue.

Marty graduated magna cum laude from Lehigh in 1968 with a BA in Government and received a JD degree, cum laude, from New York University School of Law in 1971 where he was an editor of Law Review.