Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft

New York City's oldest law firm,[4][5] Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft is headquartered at 200 Liberty Street in Lower Manhattan.[1] The firm's managing partner, Patrick Quinn, oversees approximately 400 attorneys as of 2022.[2] It operates out of five offices across the United States and Europe. In addition to its Wall Street location, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft has offices in Washington, D.C., Charlotte, London and Dublin.[8] In 2021, Cadwalader generated $608.9 million in revenue, with profits per partner of $4.38 million.[6]

The offices of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft at 200 Liberty Street in New York City

In 1792, attorney John Wells, a Princeton graduate who was one of approximately 80 lawyers in New York City at the time, founded the law firm that ultimately became known as Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft.[9] The firm became a partnership called Wells & Strong[10] in 1818 when George Washington Strong joined Wells' practice.[9]

Wells' death in 1823[5] prompted Strong to bring in George Griffin as partner. Griffin then left in 1838 and George Washington Strong partnered with Marshall Bidwell.[11] George Washington Strong's son, George Templeton Strong, a lawyer and noted diarist, joined the firm in 1844. The firm became known as Strong, Bidwell & Strong.[12] The firm became Bidwell & Strong in 1855 after George Washington Strong's death.[11] Charles E. Strong, George Templeton Strong's cousin, became the firm's chief in the 1870s. During his tenure, he considered shuttering the firm and moving from law to banking.[9] In 1878, Strong partnered with John Lambert Cadwalader, who was assistant secretary of state during President Ulysses S. Grant's administration.[9]

Corporate law and civic responsibility

Cadwalader's global headquarters at 200 Liberty Street in New York City

George W. Wickersham, an antitrust lawyer, joined the firm in 1883[5] and made partner in 1887.[9] Wickersham was named U.S. Attorney General under President William Howard Taft.[9] Henry W. Taft, President Taft's brother, began working at Cadwalader in 1889.[5] He became partner in 1899 and served as special assistant to the U.S. Attorney General from 1905 to 1907.[13] The firm became known as Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft in 1914.[9]

In the 1930s, Cadwalader was involved with the custody trial determining the guardianship of Gloria Vanderbilt.[9][14] Catherine Noyes Lee became Cadwalader's first female partner in 1942.[9]

Cadwalader expanded its footprint as the firm opened an office in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1996,[8] established a London presence in 1997[15] and opened its first office in China, located in Beijing, in 2005.[16]

In the mid-1990s, a group of young partners formed what some at Cadwalader referred to as Project Rightsize, an effort from 1994 to 1995 to remove less productive partners.[17] The group shuttered Cadwalader's office in Palm Beach, Florida, and reduced a branch in Los Angeles, California. In all, 17 partners, nearly 20 percent, left the firm.[17] Critics said the move was driven by individuals' financial interests and two former partners successfully sued Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft for violating its partnership agreement.[17]

Following the September 11 attacks, Cadwalader assisted families of those killed,[18] including immigrant families.[19] A portion of the firm's post-9/11 work occurred when attorneys learned there was no central resource for families seeking benefits; as a result, Cadwalader lawyers put together the "Handbook of Public and Private Assistance Resources for the Victims and Families of the World Trade Center Attacks", which was released in November 2001.[18] The firm released an expanded version the following year.[18]

During the financial crisis of 2007–2008, Cadwalader reduced its number of lawyers by about 20 percent in 2008. A reporter for The Wall Street Journal suggested the move was meant to lower operating costs as demand for its services decreased. Then-Chairman W. Christopher White stated, "There was a bubble, we rode that bubble, it contracted, and we adjusted".[20] Also during the fiscal crisis, Cadwalader attorneys served as advisers for the U.S. Treasury as Chrysler and General Motors restructured.[21] Cadwalader expanded in China with a Hong Kong office in 2010.[22] In 2011, it opened offices in Houston[23] and Brussels.[24]

In 2013, James C. Woolery left JP Morgan Chase for Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. The next year, Woolery was selected to take over as the firm's new chairman starting in 2015.[25] In January 2015, when the chairman-elect was slated to take the chairman's post, the firm announced Woolery had left Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft to launch a hedge fund.[2] The firm eliminated the chairman position and Managing Partner Patrick Quinn began overseeing the firm.[2]

Cadwalader's practices cover varying areas of law, including: antitrust, capital markets, corporate, energy and commodities, finance, financial restructuring, financial services, health care/not-for-profit, intellectual property, litigation, tax and private wealth, and white collar defense and investigations.[26] The firm has long-standing client relationships with premier financial institutions, Fortune 500 companies, government entities, charitable and health care organizations, and private clients.[27] The firm also takes on pro bono assignments, providing attorneys for non-profit organizations, including those assisting women, children and immigrants.[28][29]

One of the firm's highest-profile pro bono clients was Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai.[30] Cadwalader began representing the female education activist in 2012, while she was seventeen years old and still hospitalized by a Taliban shooting. The firm continued to represent her for two years, ultimately establishing the Malala Fund, a nonprofit organization advocating for women's access to education.[30]

Law associates surveyed for the Vault 100 law firm rankings placed Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft at No. 56 on its 2022 list of most prestigious firms to work for.[31] Also in 2015, U.S. News & World Report named Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft "Law Firm of the Year" for derivatives and futures law.[32] Cadwalader was ranked No. 1 on the Commercial Mortgage Alert's top issuer counsel[33] and top underwriter counsel[34] tables for commercial mortgage-backed securities in 2015. Additionally, the firm has received recognition for its business culture[35] and diversity.[36][37]

In 2021, The American Lawyer ranked Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft No. 85 on the Am Law 100,[38] an annual ranking of U.S. firms by gross revenue.[39] The publication also classified Cadwalader as one of only twenty-four "Superrich Firms" in the United States, categorized as those generating at least $1 million in revenue per lawyer and $2 million in profits per partner.[40]

• List of largest United States-based law firms by profits per partner
• White shoe firms

• Official website
• Firm Profile at the National Law Review