Firm Profiles

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