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Cravath, Swaine & Moore: Difference between revisions

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'''Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP''' (known as '''Cravath''') is a prominent American [[law firm]] based in [[New York City]], with an additional office in [[London]]. Cravath was founded in 1819 and consistently ranks first among the world's most prestigious law firms according to a survey of partners,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vault.com/wps/portal/usa/rankings/individual?rankingId1=40&rankingId2=43&rankings=1&regionId=0&rankingYear=2009|title=Vault Law Firm Rankings|work=Vault|accessdate=2011-08-18}}</ref> and second among the world's most prestigious law firms according to a survey of associates.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vault.com/nr/lawrankings.jsp?law2009=12&ch_id=242&ps=1|title=Law Firm Rankings - 2012 Vault Law 100|work=Vault|accessdate=2011-06-30}}</ref> It is now one of the [[List of law firms by profits per partner|most profitable law firms]] in the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americanlawyer.com/firmProfile.jsp?name=Cravath%2C+Swaine+%26+Moore|title=American Lawyer Profitability}}</ref>
'''Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP''' (known as '''Cravath''') is a prominent American [[law firm]] based in [[New York City]], with an additional office in [[London]]. Cravath was founded in 1819 and consistently ranks first among the world's most prestigious law firms according to a survey of partners,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vault.com/wps/portal/usa/rankings/individual?rankingId1=40&rankingId2=43&rankings=1&regionId=0&rankingYear=2009|title=Vault Law Firm Rankings|work=Vault|accessdate=2011-08-18}}</ref> and second among the world's most prestigious law firms according to a survey of associates.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vault.com/nr/lawrankings.jsp?law2009=12&ch_id=242&ps=1|title=Law Firm Rankings - 2012 Vault Law 100|work=Vault|accessdate=2011-06-30}}</ref> It is now one of the [[List of law firms by profits per partner|most profitable law firms]] in the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americanlawyer.com/firmProfile.jsp?name=Cravath%2C+Swaine+%26+Moore|title=American Lawyer Profitability}}</ref>


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===Judiciary===
===Judiciary===
*[[Deborah Batts]], judge of the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of New York]]
*[[Deborah Batts]], judge of the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of New York]]
*[[Samuel Blatchford]],  [[Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States]]  
*[[Samuel Blatchford]],  [[Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States]]
*[[William O. Douglas]], chairman of the [[Securities and Exchange Commission]], [[Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States]]  
*[[William O. Douglas]], chairman of the [[Securities and Exchange Commission]], [[Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States]]
*[[Katherine B. Forrest]], judge of the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of New York]]
*[[Katherine B. Forrest]], judge of the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of New York]]
*[[John Gleeson (judge)|John Gleeson]], judge of the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of New York]]
*[[John Gleeson (judge)|John Gleeson]], judge of the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of New York]]
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*[[David Boies]], litigator who represented [[Al Gore]] in ''[[Bush v. Gore]]'', founding partner of [[Boies, Schiller & Flexner]]
*[[David Boies]], litigator who represented [[Al Gore]] in ''[[Bush v. Gore]]'', founding partner of [[Boies, Schiller & Flexner]]
*[[Bruce Bromley]], famous litigator in the 1950s and 1960s
*[[Bruce Bromley]], famous litigator in the 1950s and 1960s
*[[James Colliton]], convicted felon<ref>{{cite news |last=Hartocollis |first=Anemona |title=In Plea Deal, Lawyer Admits Having Sex With Teenagers |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/03/nyregion/03plea.html |accessdate=February 6, 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 3, 2007}}</ref>  
*[[James Colliton]], convicted felon<ref>{{cite news |last=Hartocollis |first=Anemona |title=In Plea Deal, Lawyer Admits Having Sex With Teenagers |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/03/nyregion/03plea.html |accessdate=February 6, 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 3, 2007}}</ref>
*[[Lloyd Cutler]], founding partner of [[Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering]]
*[[Lloyd Cutler]], founding partner of [[Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering]]
*[[Robert D. Joffe]], [[antitrust]] and [[corporate law]] expert, key figure behind the [[AOL]]-[[Time Warner]] merger
*[[Robert D. Joffe]], [[antitrust]] and [[corporate law]] expert, key figure behind the [[AOL]]-[[Time Warner]] merger
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==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist|30em}}


==Further reading==
==Further reading==

Revision as of 06:44, July 21, 2013

Template:Infobox law firm

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP (known as Cravath) is a prominent American law firm based in New York City, with an additional office in London. Cravath was founded in 1819 and consistently ranks first among the world's most prestigious law firms according to a survey of partners,[1] and second among the world's most prestigious law firms according to a survey of associates.[2] It is now one of the most profitable law firms in the world.[3]

History

The firm arose from two predecessor firms, respectively located in New York City and Auburn, New York. In 1854, these firms merged to form the firm of Blatchford, Seward & Griswold. Named partner Samuel Blatchford later served on the United States Supreme Court. Named partner William H. Seward later served as both Governor and later Senator from New York. He then became Secretary of State under Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. In 1867, he negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia in a transaction contemporaries derisively called "Seward's Folly." Paul Drennan Cravath joined the firm in 1899. He instituted the "Cravath System". The system combines a distinctive way of approaching the hiring, training and compensation of lawyers. In 1944, after a series of name changes, the name Cravath, Swaine & Moore was established and has not been altered ever since.

Cravath has represented high profile businesses, from United Airlines in its merger with Continental Airlines, the world's largest airline, to Unilever in its acquisition of Alberto Culver. In 2010, its litigation department won summary judgment for Morgan Stanley on its breach of contract claim against Discover Financial Services. In a subsequent settlement, Discover agreed to pay Morgan Stanley $775 million to resolve the litigation. In the same year they successfully represented Barnes & Noble in a landmark "poison pill" trial. Past clients ranged from Samuel F.B. Morse, the inventor of the telegraph to corporations such as IBM, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and CBS. It also performed the legal work necessary to form NBC. More recent decades have seen Cravath represent Netscape in its antitrust suit against Microsoft, resulting in a $750 million settlement; major merger and acquisition deals, such as the DuPont-Conoco merger, the Ford-Jaguar merger, the Bristol-Myers-Squibb merger, the Time-Warner merger, and the AOL-Time-Warner merger; and two famed libel suits: defending Time Inc. against Israeli General Ariel Sharon, and also defending CBS against U.S. Army General William Westmoreland.

Unlike others, Cravath has remained relatively small. Its approximately 500 lawyers are located primarily in the New York Office, with just a few dozen in the London office, which opened in 1973. Cravath drew attention to its bankruptcy practice on November 10, 2010 by offering free representation in advance of a likely Chapter 9 filing for Harrisburg, PA.[4]

Rankings

Cravath was ranked #2 in the 2013 Vault law firm "overall rankings." The firm consistently ranks within the top 3 on numerous Vault.com specialty rankings, including Antitrust, Corporate, Litigation, Mergers & Acquisitions, Securities and Tax.[5] Chambers and Partners ranks Cravath in its top tier for Banking & Finance, Capital Markets (Debt & Equity), Corporate/M&A, Environmental, Media and Entertainment, Securities and General Commercial Litigation and Tax.[6]

In 2012, Cravath was ranked seventh in The American Lawyer's annual listing of highest profits per partner.[7]

Hiring

Entry to the firm is highly selective, generally open to only the most academically successful students from the most elite law schools in the United States and Canada.[citation needed]

The firm is known for focusing its hiring on associates straight from law school; lateral hires are rare at the associate level and new partners are almost never taken on. In 2005, Cravath hired Andrew W. Needham, formerly a tax partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher,[8] as the first lateral partner since Herbert L. Camp, also a tax partner, from the now-defunct Donovan Leisure Newton & Irvine in 1987. Camp, however, had previously been a Cravath associate and is therefore not considered a true lateral because he started his career there. Before that, Roswell Magill, a former Treasury Department official, became a Cravath tax partner in 1943. In 2007, the firm brought in Richard Levin from Skadden, Arps to boost its new bankruptcy practice.[9] In 2011, Cravath hired Christine A. Varney, a former U.S. Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division for the Obama Administration. In 2013, the firm hired David Kappos, who served as the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.[10]

Famous current and former employees

Judiciary

Government service

Business

Law

Academia

Publishing and cinema

References

  1. ↑ Vault Law Firm Rankings, Vault
  2. ↑ Law Firm Rankings - 2012 Vault Law 100, Vault
  3. ↑ American Lawyer Profitability,
  4. ↑ http://www.marksmarketanalysis.com/2010/11/harrisburg-pa-hires-bankruptcy-attorney.html
  5. ↑ www.vault.com
  6. ↑ Chambers and Partners
  7. ↑ http://www.americanlawyer.com/firmProfile.jsp?name=Cravath%2C+Swaine+%26+Moore
  8. ↑ Cravath Hires Tax Partner, Its First Lateral in Decades
  9. ↑ Cravath starts a bankruptcy practice
  10. ↑  Cravath Hires a 2nd Official From Obama Administration, New York Times  (February 6, 2013)
  11. ↑ Pace, Eric Roswell L. Gilpatric, Lawyer and Kennedy Aide, Dies at 89, New York Times  (1996-03-17)
  12. ↑ Hartocollis, Anemona In Plea Deal, Lawyer Admits Having Sex With Teenagers, The New York Times  (October 3, 2007)
  13. ↑ Stewart, James B. Death of a Partner, the New Yorker  (June 21, 1993)
  14. ↑ Lawyer makes history as youngest SNU professor, JoongAng Daily

Further reading

External links

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