Firm Profiles
IN-DEPTH RESEARCH REPORT
on Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
- - Financial Information
- - Compensation
- - Billing Rates
- - Lateral Partner Moves
- - Pro bono
- - Key Contacts
Sullivan & Cromwell
- Designation: New York
- Head Count: 776
- Gross Revenues: $1,184,000,000
- Revenue Per Lawyer: $1,525,000
- Profits Per Partner: $3,450,000
- Year Over Year Change: 2
Few firms date back to the Panama Canal—Sullivan & Cromwell (William Nelson Cromwell was the Canal’s chief lobbyist) helped build it. While not the largest of the New York legal giants, Sullivan’s history, clients, and—most noteworthy of all—profitability have made it the archetypal blue–chip firm.
A perennial top–15 presence on The Am Law 100, Sullivan has routinely ranked in the top three in profits per partner, average partner compensation, and revenue per lawyer.
Sullivan was one of the first U.S. firms to look abroad, opening in Paris in 1927. Today it has 12 offices around the world, and its client roster divides almost down the middle between U.S. and non-U.S. entities. The firm’s global reach and experience has made it a major force in cross–border M&A work, and Sullivan lawyers have been among The American Lawyer’s Dealmakers of the Year for four consecutive years (2008 through 2011). For all the bench strength, Rodge Cohen remains the firm’s most prominent partner, a banking expert who has been at the center of the financial industry’s affairs, public and private, for three decades.
The firm has also given rise to a litigation practice known for both its footprint and its track record, earning an honorable mention in The American Lawyer’s 2008, 2010, and 2012 Litigation Department of the Year contests.
Sullivan handled significant trial work for financial institutions entangled in the global banking crisis, and more recently, defended BP p.l.c. in securities and ERISA litigation arising from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Other Sullivan & Cromwell strengths include real estate finance and derivatives. It can be a tough place for young lawyers. In The American Lawyer’s 2011 Midlevel Associates Survey, Sullivan ranked just ninety–fourth out of 126 firms. But the firm is legendary for growing organically, not by merger, and for associates who get the nod, partnership isn’t just a well–earned reward, but the closest thing the legal industry has to a golden ticket.
—Updated as of 1/1/12
Firm Rankings
| Survey | Rank | Year Over Year Change | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Am Law 100 | 14 | 2 | Gross revenue |
| Am Law 200 | 14 | 2 | Gross revenue |
| NLJ 250 | 44 | no change | Lawyer head count |
| The A-List | 26 | 3 | Overall excellence |
| Pro Bono Scorecard | 53 | 9 | Pro-bono commitment |
| Diversity Scorecard | 50 | 6 | Minority head count |
| Midlevel Associates Survey | 94 | 25 | Job satisfaction |
| Summer Associates Survey | NR | N/A | Summer programs |
In the News
Yahoo Picks Up Tumblr for $1.1B
Tom Huddleston Jr. : The Am Law Daily : May 20, 2013
Simpson Helps Yahoo, Tumblr Connect
Tom Huddleston Jr. : The Am Law Daily : May 20, 2013
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett is advising Yahoo in connection with its largest acquisition in a decade: the $1.1 billion cash purchase of blogging and social media platform Tumblr. Tumblr, meanwhile, is represented by Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian.
LIBOR Claims Rejected
David Bario : The Litigation Daily : May 16, 2013
Less than two months after a judge gutted sprawling antitrust litigation over alleged manipulation of global benchmark interest rates, shareholders have struck out in a related securities class action against Barclays plc.
Asia Deal Digest: May 16, 2013
Tom Brennan : The Asian Lawyer : May 16, 2013
* Davis Polk on a $4 billion bond offering for China's CNOOC* Allen & Overy advising Sinopec Engineering on its $2.7 billion IPO* Four Wall Street firms take on AsiaInfo-Linkage's $890 million take-private deal
DISH Selling Debt Ahead of Possible Sprint Deal
Tom Huddleston Jr. : The Am Law Daily : May 15, 2013
A month after shaking up the telecommunications industry by making a $25.5 billion bid to acquire Sprint Nextel, DISH Network has announced a $2.5 billion debt offering meant to help finance part of the proposed deal. Sullivan & Cromwell has been brought in to advise DISH on the debt offering while White & Case is working on the takeover.
Split State Panel Dismisses Suit Against Goldman Sachs
Brendan Pierson : New York Law Journal : May 15, 2013
A divided state appellate panel has dismissed a lawsuit accusing Goldman Sachs & Co. of tricking insurer ACA Financial Guarantee Corp. into insuring a complex mortgage-backed security that the bank had designed to fail, ruling that ACA should have done more to protect itself.
Surging U.S. IPO Market Yields Gains for Cooley, Hunton
Brian Baxter : The Am Law Daily : May 14, 2013
U.S. companies have already raised $16.8 billion through initial public offerings so far this year and several Am Law 100 firms are reaping the benefits.
Correction
: New York Law Journal : May 13, 2013
Court: Contract Work Counts as the Practice of Law
Sheri Qualters : The National Law Journal : May 13, 2013
Massachusetts' highest court has held that a lawyer's contract work at New York's Sullivan & Cromwell while he was licensed in New Jersey counts toward "the active practice of law" requirement for admission to the Massachusetts bar.
Texas' Top Deals of 2012
Brenda Sapino Jeffreys : Texas Lawyer : May 13, 2013
The top 10 deals in Texas in 2012.
- Anderson Kill & Olick
- Arent Fox
- Arthur Cox
- Baker & McKenzie
- Chadbourne & Parke
- Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
- Clifford Chance
- Cooley
- Covington & Burling
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore
- Davis Polk & Wardwell
- Dewey & LeBoeuf
- Dickstein Shapiro
- DLA Piper
- Duane Morris
- Eversheds
- Fish & Richardson
- Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson
- Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian
- Heller Ehrman
- Howrey
- Irwin Mitchell
- Jenner & Block
- Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman
- Kirkland & Ellis
- Latham & Watkins
- Linklaters
- Mallesons Stephen Jaques
- Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
- Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
- Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker
- Perkins Coie
- Proskauer Rose
- Reed Smith
- Ropes & Gray
- Shearman & Sterling
- Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton
- Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
- Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
- Slaughter and May
- Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal
- Sullivan & Cromwell
- Vinson & Elkins
- Weil, Gotshal & Manges
- Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr
