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Cravath, Swaine & Moore
Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP ("Cravath") is one of the most renowned law firms in the United States. Historically, the firm has been one of the most profitable in terms of revenue per partner, and has long been the subject of much conjecture and rumor regarding its unique traditions and operating style. Though certainly not without peers, Cravath is still popularly considered the most prestigious law firm in the nation, and entry into the firm is still exceedingly competitive and largely limited to graduates of the most elite law schools in the country. Based in New York City with an additional office in London, Cravath has existed since 1819.
History
The firm stems from two predecessor firms, one in New York City and one in Auburn, New York. In 1854 these firms merged to form the firm of Blatchford, Seward & Griswold. Name partner William H. Seward later served as both governor of and a senator from New York, 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", a rigorous training program for associates which rotates them among the firm's partners within a given practice area. After a series of name changes, the Cravath, Swaine & Moore name was made permanent in 1944.
Cravath has represented high profile businesses, ranging 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 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 certain rivals such as Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Cravath has remained relatively small. Its approximately 390 lawyers are spread across only two offices--New York and London. The firm had an office in Hong Kong from 1993 to 2003.
Hiring
The firm is well-known for focusing its hiring on associates straight from law school; lateral hires are extremely rare. In 2005, Cravath hired its first lateral partner in more than six decades--Andrew W. Needham, a tax partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher.[1]
Rankings
Cravath appears regularly on The American Lawyer's annual listing of highest profits per partner, and until recently ranked alongside Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz at the top of the list, far above its nearest rival. In 2005, Cravath posted profits per partner of $2,600,000.[2] Wachtell, the upstart mergers and acquisition boutique, has, however, generated consistently larger profits during the last five years and several other New York law firms, such as Cahill, Gordon & Reindel; Simpson Thacher & Bartlett; and Sullivan & Cromwell have recently generated profits per partner comparable to Cravath's. The firm also consistently ranks at or near the top of other various surveys, such as the Vault.com Partner (#1, 2006), Associate (#2, 2006), Corporate (#1, 2006) and Litigation (#1, 2006) prestige surveys.
