Sullivan & Cromwell: Difference between revisions
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Lawstorian71 (talk | contribs) Expanded history section to better reflect Sullivan & Cromwell's impact upon affairs of nation states, per the recommendation of Wikipedia user Boruch Baum. |
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'''Sullivan & Cromwell LLP''' is an international [[law firm]] headquartered in New York. It |
'''Sullivan & Cromwell LLP''' is an international [[law firm]] headquartered in New York. It has gained renown for its business and commercial law practices and its impact on international affairs.<ref name="one">[[Stephen Kinzer]] (2013). The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Secret World War. New York: Times Books. ISBN 0805094970.</ref><ref name="two">[[McCullough, David]] (1977). [[The Path Between the Seas]]. New York: Simon & Schuster. p.698. ISBN 978-0-671-22563-6.</ref> |
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==History== |
==History== |
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Founded in 1879 by [[Algernon Sydney Sullivan]] and [[William Nelson Cromwell]], Sullivan & Cromwell has served many of the world’s foremost industrial, commercial and financial enterprises. |
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{{expand section|date=October 2015|1=examples of the firm's impact upon affairs of nation-states, e.g., from the two books cited as references in this article.}} |
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Founding partners [[Algernon Sydney Sullivan]] and [[William Nelson Cromwell]] advised [[John Pierpont Morgan]] during the creation of [[Edison General Electric]] (1882) and later guided key players in the formation of [[U.S. Steel]] (1901) and the financing of the [[Panama Canal]].<ref name=McCullough/> The firm has been closely involved in the affairs of some of America's, and now the world's, greatest industrial, commercial and financial enterprises; it represents the [[Panama Canal Authority]] to this day.{{citation needed|date=November 2015}} |
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Sullivan & Cromwell’s relationships with leading companies go back to its earliest days. The firm advised [[J.P. Morgan | John Pierpont Morgan]] during the creation of [[Edison General Electric]] (1882) and later guided key players in the formation of [[U.S. Steel]] (1901).<ref name="steel">“Giant Steel Trust Launched at Last: Will be Known as the United States Steel Corporation,” The New York Times, February 26, 1901</ref> The firm was an innovator in corporate organization; Cromwell developed the concept of a holding company, persuading New Jersey to include it in state law and enabling companies incorporating there to avoid antitrust laws.<ref name="trust">[https://jasonweixelbaum.wordpress.com/2010/12/25/harnessing-the-growth-of-corporate-capitalism-sullivan-cromwell-and-its-influence-on-late-nineteenth-century-american-business/#_ftnref73 Harnessing the Growth of Corporate Capitalism: Sullivan & Cromwell and its influence on late Nineteenth-century American business,”] by Jason Weixelbaum; paper posted December 25, 2010</ref> |
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During the [[Great Depression]] and its aftermath, the firm litigated in the newly emerging fields of shareholder derivatives, [[antitrust]] actions, [[federal income tax]] law, and registration under the [[Securities Act of 1933]]. |
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The firm also worked with less-successful businesses during the volatile decades before the establishment of modern federal bankruptcy laws; it pioneered efforts to reorganize insolvent companies through what became known as the “Cromwell plan.”<ref name="trust"></ref> Cromwell himself was called “the physician of Wall Street” for his ability to rescue failing companies.<ref name="dr">Sullivan & Cromwell, page [https://careers.sullcrom.com/columbia "Columbia Law School"]</ref><ref name="fundu">[http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/sullivan-cromwell-history/ “Sullivan & Cromwell History,”] at FundingUniverse.com</ref> |
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In 1935, Allen Dulles visited Germany and returned greatly disturbed by the direction of the regime. He advised that the firm should close its Berlin office, against his brother's strong objections, and the partners eventually voted to close it. John Foster subsequently backdated documents to suggest that the closing date had been 1934.{{citation needed|date=November 2015}} |
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The post-[[World War I]] era saw an expanded need for financing, both for the decade’s rapidly growing corporations and for governments that had borrowed heavily during the war. Sullivan & Cromwell designed many of the equity and debt agreements used during this period, including 94 loan agreements to European borrowers alone during one seven-year period.<ref name="fundu"></ref> |
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The firm’s business expanded substantially during the 1930s, when it began to represent companies facing increased regulation and became for a time the world’s biggest law firm.<ref name="fundu"></ref> During the [[Great Depression]] and its aftermath, the firm litigated in the newly emerging fields of shareholder derivatives, [[antitrust]] actions, [[federal income tax]] law and registration under the [[Securities Act of 1933]]. The firm developed the first major registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933<ref name="nineteen">Filing registration with the Securities & Exchange Commission on behalf of the Southern California Edison Company, Ltd., of Los Angeles, Calif., for an issue of refunding mortgage bonds, April 1, 1935; filing accessed via LexisNexis</ref> and influenced the development of tax law in the mutual fund industry.<ref name="rev">Review by Marie Morris of A Lawyer’s Life: Deep in the Heart of Taxes, by Edwin S. Cohen. Federal Lawyer, September 1995, page 1</ref> |
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Changing political and regulatory trends continued to influence the firm’s business. Federal antitrust measures against utility companies in the 1930s and investment banks in the 1950s generated substantial business, as did increasing use of public offerings; Sullivan & Cromwell performed the legal work for the Ford Motor Company’s $643 million offering in 1956, the biggest ever to that date. Evolving business trends continued to be reflected in the firm’s organization; a banking practice was formed in 1968, and a mergers and acquisition unit was established in 1980, as M&A began to accelerate. By the middle of that decade, the M&A unit generated a third of the firm’s revenue.<ref name="fundu"></ref> |
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==''Maples v. Thomas''== |
==''Maples v. Thomas''== |
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Revision as of 15:14, 20 December 2016
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| Headquarters | 125 Broad Street New York City, New York, United States |
|---|---|
| No. of offices | 12 total, 8 international |
| No. of attorneys | 792 (2015)[1] |
| Major practice areas | General practice |
| Key people | Joseph Shenker, chairman and senior partner H. Rodgin Cohen, senior chairman |
| Revenue |  $1.13 billion (2015)[1] |
| Date founded | 1879 |
| Founder | Algernon Sydney Sullivan and William Nelson Cromwell |
| Company type | Limited liability partnership |
| Website | sullcrom |
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP is an international law firm headquartered in New York. It has gained renown for its business and commercial law practices and its impact on international affairs.[2][3]
History
Founded in 1879 by Algernon Sydney Sullivan and William Nelson Cromwell, Sullivan & Cromwell has served many of the world’s foremost industrial, commercial and financial enterprises.
Sullivan & Cromwell’s relationships with leading companies go back to its earliest days. The firm advised John Pierpont Morgan during the creation of Edison General Electric (1882) and later guided key players in the formation of U.S. Steel (1901).[4] The firm was an innovator in corporate organization; Cromwell developed the concept of a holding company, persuading New Jersey to include it in state law and enabling companies incorporating there to avoid antitrust laws.[5]
The firm also worked with less-successful businesses during the volatile decades before the establishment of modern federal bankruptcy laws; it pioneered efforts to reorganize insolvent companies through what became known as the “Cromwell plan.”[5] Cromwell himself was called “the physician of Wall Street” for his ability to rescue failing companies.[6][7]
The post-World War I era saw an expanded need for financing, both for the decade’s rapidly growing corporations and for governments that had borrowed heavily during the war. Sullivan & Cromwell designed many of the equity and debt agreements used during this period, including 94 loan agreements to European borrowers alone during one seven-year period.[7]
The firm’s business expanded substantially during the 1930s, when it began to represent companies facing increased regulation and became for a time the world’s biggest law firm.[7] During the Great Depression and its aftermath, the firm litigated in the newly emerging fields of shareholder derivatives, antitrust actions, federal income tax law and registration under the Securities Act of 1933. The firm developed the first major registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933[8] and influenced the development of tax law in the mutual fund industry.[9]
Changing political and regulatory trends continued to influence the firm’s business. Federal antitrust measures against utility companies in the 1930s and investment banks in the 1950s generated substantial business, as did increasing use of public offerings; Sullivan & Cromwell performed the legal work for the Ford Motor Company’s $643 million offering in 1956, the biggest ever to that date. Evolving business trends continued to be reflected in the firm’s organization; a banking practice was formed in 1968, and a mergers and acquisition unit was established in 1980, as M&A began to accelerate. By the middle of that decade, the M&A unit generated a third of the firm’s revenue.[7]
Maples v. Thomas
Sullivan & Cromwell's competence was questioned in the 2012 Supreme Court case Maples v. Thomas. The firm missed a deadline in a death row appeal after the two attorneys handling the case left the firm without notifying the court in Alabama.[10][11] A ruling on a denial petition was sent to Sullivan & Cromwell; however, the mailroom returned the envelopes to the court stamped "Returned to Sender -- Attempted Unknown" and "Return to Sender -- Left Firm."
Writing for the majority, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote:
“Abandoned by counsel, Maples was left unrepresented at a critical time for his state postconviction petition, and he lacked a clue of any need to protect himself pro se. In these circumstances, no just system would lay the default at Maples’ death-cell door.”[12]
Notable alumni
Individuals who have worked at Sullivan & Cromwell include:
- M. Bernard Aidinoff, partner and chairman of Section of Taxation of the American Bar Association
- Ann Althouse, blogger and professor of law
- Louis Auchincloss, writer
- Michael Bryant
- Amal Clooney
- Norris Darrell, president, American Law Institute
- Lori Damrosch, president, American Society of International Law
- Florence Davis, president of the Starr Foundation
- Arthur Dean
- Allen Welsh Dulles, Director of Central Intelligence (1953-1961)[13]
- John Foster Dulles, U.S. Secretary of State (1953-1959)[13]
- Ronald Dworkin, philosopher and law professor
- Judith Kaye, chief judge of the New York Court of Appeals
- Robert MacCrate, counsel to New York Governor Nelson D. Rockefeller, special counsel to the Department of the Army for its investigation of the My Lai Massacre
- Keith Rabois
- Harlan Fiske Stone, Chief Justice of the United States
- Peter Thiel, technology entrepreneur, venture capitalist and co-founder of Paypal
- Joseph Tsai, vice chairman of Alibaba Group
References
- ^ a b Sullivan & Cromwell LLP Law Firm Profile, The American Lawyer
- ^ Stephen Kinzer (2013). The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Secret World War. New York: Times Books. ISBN 0805094970.
- ^ McCullough, David (1977). The Path Between the Seas. New York: Simon & Schuster. p.698. ISBN 978-0-671-22563-6.
- ^ “Giant Steel Trust Launched at Last: Will be Known as the United States Steel Corporation,” The New York Times, February 26, 1901
- ^ a b Harnessing the Growth of Corporate Capitalism: Sullivan & Cromwell and its influence on late Nineteenth-century American business,” by Jason Weixelbaum; paper posted December 25, 2010
- ^ Sullivan & Cromwell, page "Columbia Law School"
- ^ a b c d “Sullivan & Cromwell History,” at FundingUniverse.com
- ^ Filing registration with the Securities & Exchange Commission on behalf of the Southern California Edison Company, Ltd., of Los Angeles, Calif., for an issue of refunding mortgage bonds, April 1, 1935; filing accessed via LexisNexis
- ^ Review by Marie Morris of A Lawyer’s Life: Deep in the Heart of Taxes, by Edwin S. Cohen. Federal Lawyer, September 1995, page 1
- ^ Hill K (2 November 2009). "Sullivan & Cromwell's Life-or-Death Mistake? Leading law firm blows deadline in death penalty case". Abovethelaw.com. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
- ^ Liptak A (18 January 2012). "Justices Rule for Inmate After Mailroom Mix-up". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
- ^ "Maples v. Thomas". Oyez.org. IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
- ^ a b Stephen Kinzer (2013). The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Secret World War. New York: Times Books. ISBN 0805094970.
Further reading
- VEP: Sullivan & Cromwell. New York: Vault, Inc. 1998. ISBN 1-58131-095-1.
- Lisagor, Nancy; Frank Lipsius (1989). A Law Unto Itself: The Untold Story of the Law Firm Sullivan & Cromwell. New York: Paragon House. ISBN 1-55778-239-3.