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Cravath history
Cravath company history timeline
01Presiding PartnersOur Firm has had 16 Presiding Partners since it was founded in 1819.Explore
1823: The partnership of Miller & Seward is formed in Auburn, New York.
In 1826 the Bank of England chose Blatchford as its financial agent and counsel in the United States, which brought in many clients over the next 40 years.
Photo montage: John Bachmann, Birdseye View of Manhattan, 1865.
Among his most famous acts on behalf of the United States during this time was the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867, which was mockingly referred to by the American public at the time as "Seward's Folly."
During the depression that started in 1873, the law firm first contacted J. & W. Seligman & Co., a bank that later became a long-term client that financed railroads.
Additionally, in the late 1800s the firm gained more corporations as clients. For example, it helped incorporate the American Tobacco Company in 1890 and represented that company when it acquired smaller businesses on its way to becoming one of the few big corporations in the South.
Farmers' Loan and Trust Company tax case of 1895.
Paul Drennan Cravath joined the firm in 1899, and devised the "Cravath System", combining a distinct method of hiring, training, and compensating lawyers.
1901: The partnership adopts the new name of Guthrie, Cravath & Henderson.
1913: Cravath & Henderson is formed.
The firm's restructuring work traces back to clients such as Goodyear in 1921.
Although lateral hiring of experienced lawyers from other firms occurred occasionally, most growth of the big law firms relied on this system of recruiting, internal training, and loyalty to the firm. For example, he was a director of the New York Symphony Society, the Metropolitan Opera, and the Juilliard School of Music, and was a founder of the Council on Foreign Relations when it was started in 1921.
1924: The law firm opens a branch office in Washington, D.C.
The law firm also served chemical and drug companies such as American Cyanamid and Hoffman-La Roche, and its most important newspaper and magazine client starting in 1928 was Time Inc.
However, the Paris office closed in 1934 during the depression, and the Washington office also was later closed.
1944: On March 1 the name of Cravath, Swaine & Moore is adopted.
By 1948 the Cravath firm had expanded to 97 lawyers and 166 staff.
New-York Historical Society Library; Thomas Airviews, Birdseye view of Manhattan, July 2, 1962.
Unlike others, Cravath has remained a relatively small firm. Its approximately 500 lawyers are located primarily in the New York Office, with a few dozen in the London office, which opened in 1973.
In 1989, our former Presiding Partner, the late Robert Joffe, argued before the United States Supreme Court on behalf of black and women firefighters in Birmingham, Alabama.
The case served as a catalyst for the Civil Rights Act of 1991, and Cravath has continued to work on behalf of these plaintiffs for over 30 years.
Associates laboring for three or four years on the case sometimes became discouraged and left the firm. "The loss of associates was far in excess of normal turnover because of dissatisfaction with the narrow experience," wrote Erwin Cherovsky in 1991.
In 1999 the Cravath law firm ranked as the world's seventh largest merger/acquisition law firm, with a total of 97 deals worth $451.3 billion.
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, Pennsylvania.
In 2010, its litigation department won summary judgment for Morgan Stanley on its breach of contract claim against Discover Financial Services.
Attorney Advertising. ©2021 Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP.
Attorney Advertising. ©2022 Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP.
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| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skadden | 1948 | $2.4B | 3,500 | 53 |
| Sullivan & Cromwell | 1879 | $1.1B | 1,931 | - |
| Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison | 1875 | $1.5B | 1,200 | 17 |
| Davis Polk & Wardwell | 1849 | $1.8B | 1,500 | - |
| O'Melveny | 1885 | $725.0M | 2,100 | - |
| Shearman & Sterling | 1873 | $955.4M | 850 | - |
| White & Case | 1901 | $1.8B | 3,662 | 47 |
| Dechert | 1875 | $1.3B | 1,782 | 25 |
| Kirkland & Ellis | 1909 | $4.8B | 5,721 | 99 |
| McDermott Will & Emery | 1934 | $1.1B | 2,300 | 96 |
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Cravath may also be known as or be related to CRAVATH SWAINE & MOORE, Cravath, Cravath Children's Center, Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP, Cravath, Swaine & Moore, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, Cravath, Swaine & Moore Llp and Cravath, Swaine & Moore, LLP.