Established 1879
Tel: +1 212-558-4000
Website: www.sullcrom.com
Contact: Richard C. Pepperman II, Tracy Richelle High
Number of partners: 170
Number of attorneys: 875
Office Locations: Beijing, Brussels, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Palo Alto, Paris, Sydney, Tokyo, Washington, D.C.
Sullivan & Cromwell’s reputation stems from more than a century of representing clients in a broad range of matters, including many landmark cases that have shaped the development of U.S. law.
The Litigation Group draws upon S&C’s rich expertise in corporate, financial and transactional law, forming seamlessly integrated teams that handle any related or follow-on matters that arise. The Firm manages issues through every stage of the litigation life cycle, before any court, arbitration panel or regulatory agency.
The lawyers at S&C are international practitioners. Its clients represent a cross-section of prominent U.S. and non-U.S. companies that trust the Firm with their critical investigations, regulatory matters, trials and arbitrations.
Antitrust:
Our antitrust lawyers are seasoned litigators who bring a litigator’s insights to antitrust counseling, merger clearances, criminal antitrust investigations and trials, and private, government and class action civil litigation. This training allows our antitrust lawyers to serve our clients’ needs efficiently by enabling the same team to handle all aspects of an antitrust problem, even when counseling, merger clearances or preliminary investigations evolve into full scale litigation.
Appellate:
With 12 former law clerks of the U.S. Supreme Court and a large number of other former appellate law clerks, S&C lawyers bring to bear their extensive appellate experience in providing the highest quality representation for the Firm’s clients. Our trial and appellate capabilities allow our interdisciplinary teams to mold effective legal strategies from the beginning of cases to their successful resolution.
Arbitration:
S&C’s international arbitration practice is recognized as one of the leading international dispute resolution practices worldwide. The Firm has handled international disputes for more than a century and has unparalleled expertise and experience in this area, particularly in international commercial arbitration, which has become a part of many major international disputes.
Bankruptcy:
S&C’s bankruptcy litigation practice involves the representation of debtors, creditors, financial institutions, agents and trustees, directors, owners and purchasers in significant disputes. The Firm has prosecuted and defended very large contested claims, challenged and defended plans of reorganizations and bankruptcy settlements, defended major avoidance actions, protected acquirors from challenges to bankruptcy purchases, and resolved a wide variety of other disputes.
Congressional Investigations:
S&C has a long history of advising clients on important Congressional investigations. Our experience provides clients invaluable insights on how best to navigate the unpredictable course Congressional investigations often take.
Criminal Defense and Investigations:
Our Criminal Defense and Investigations Group (CDIG) is widely recognized as one of the preeminent white-collar criminal defense practices in the United States. The group comprises eight former federal and state prosecutors who have collectively handled more than 125 criminal trials in U.S. federal and state courts. We represent individuals and institutions around the world in the most significant white-collar criminal defense matters, regulatory enforcement matters and internal investigations. We respond to matters handled by virtually every enforcement agency, and have developed particular expertise in handling cross-border enforcement investigations for clients worldwide.
EU Competition:
European Union (EU) competition law has a major impact on businesses operating in the EU and, for that reason, is one of S&C’s core practice areas. We advise U.S., European, Asian, Australian, Latin American and other clients on the competition law implications of mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, long term supply agreements and other business arrangements. The Firm also represents the targets of competition law investigations by the European Commission and national authorities.
FCPA & Anti-Corruption:
S&C is a leader in advising clients around the world on issues arising under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the U.K. Bribery Act and related international laws. The Firm’s history and experience with FCPA matters has involved some of the most significant investigations, including obtaining the first deferred prosecution agreement ever offered by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Financial Services Investigations and Litigation:
Coordinating efforts with other members of the financial services team, Sullivan & Cromwell’s litigation and investigations lawyers regularly advise clients in regulatory, legislative and criminal inquiries, investigations and enforcement actions, and related shareholder derivative litigations and securities class actions. S&C is also a go-to firm for antitrust litigation, merger analysis and review, and counseling.
Intellectual Property and Technology Litigation:
S&C’s Intellectual Property Group brings together lawyers from all aspects of the Firm’s practice to assist clients around the world with the full spectrum of intellectual property and technology issues that confront today’s businesses. S&C IP litigators are not solely “patent” counsel who handle only technical and scientific cases; we have a wide range of experience, enabling us to communicate effectively with judges and juries regardless of the complexity of the technology involved.
International Trade and Investment/CFIUS:
S&C is one of the leading legal advisers in matters related to U.S. international trade and investment, backed by many years of experience and a record of client success. The Firm advises U.S.-based clients making or receiving non-U.S. investment and works closely with U.S. and non-U.S. financial institutions with regard to their international activities.
Labor and Employment:
The Firm’s Labor and Employment practice was established over 50 years ago. Lawyers in this practice have an impressive record handling labor and employment litigation matters involving all manner of claims, including claims of illegal discrimination, breach of contract, and tort and labor unfair practice charges in a broad variety of industries and geographic areas.
M&A Litigation:
S&C has represented clients in every type of litigation arising out of M&A transactions. The Firm has handled hostile takeover litigation and shareholder class and derivative actions in every conceivable takeover-related setting, including actions related to disclosure, defensive-measure and goingprivate transactions. S&C has also defended special committees and handled regulatory matters relating to M&A transactions involving antitrust, insider trading, and disclosure issues.
Securities Litigation:
The Firm’s securities litigation practice is renowned for providing superior legal representation in the highest-profile, most complex cases. The group’s litigators have a proven track record in successfully resolving bet-the-company securities litigation matters. In recent years, the Firm has taken the leading role in defending actions arising out of the ongoing financial crisis.
Last Updated 28th September 2017
Sullivan & Cromwell- National Editorial
Founded in 1879, Sullivan & Cromwell has grown from a small firm in New York's Financial District to a 12-office international powerhouse routinely sought by clients for their most complex and pressing cases. Peers address the firm in tones of reverence. "Sullivan & Cromwell is where the biggest companies in the world look to when they need their biggest problems solved – not garden-variety headaches but literal bet-the-company issues." A client cheers, "The legal services provided by S&C throughout our litigation experience has been prompt, accurate, reliable, efficient, cost effective, illustrative of its depth of experience and talent and extraordinarily client friendly."
Lending support to this claim, Sullivan & Cromwell, and specifically New York's Robert Giuffra and Sharon Nelles, served as National Coordinating Counsel for German automaker Volkswagen Group in connection with an unprecedented agreements in principle with the US DoJ, US EPA, the US FTC, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the Plaintiffs Steering Committee, to resolve a significant portion of the massive multidistrict litigation arising from the company's recent emissions scandal. A settlement was reached in April 2016, and it includes offering to almost 500,000 US owners of certain Volkswagen vehicles buybacks, repairs, compensation and environmental remediation. The overall value of the settlement is estimated at over $14 billion. Since the initial global settlement, the team has guided Volkswagen to reaching multiple other settlements arising out of the litigation, including a $1.2 billion settlement of consumer and environmental claims; a $4.3 billion settlement with the DoJ, EPA and Customs & Border Patrol at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security resolving claims for criminal penalties, civil penalties and injunctive relief; a second settlement with CARB totaling $153.8 million in civil penalties and reimbursement of certification costs; and a $1.2 billion settlement with 652 Volkswagen franchise dealers. "This is just huge, historic," marvels a peer. "Bob and Sharon have literally saved that company from being brought to its knees."
This settlement builds on a prior win Giuffra secured for Volkswagen, which involved a group of hedge funds bringing a lawsuit in 2010 seeking more than $5 billion in damages against Porsche SE (which now owns more than 50% of Volkswagen) in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York and New York State Supreme Court. After securing a dismissal at the pleading phase in the lower court, Giuffra won a precedent-setting appellate victory in the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, on behalf of Porsche. Beyond this noted client, Giuffra also spearheads a spate of litigation for UBS and Goldman Sachs. Most recently, in July 2017, Giuffra triumphed in yet another matter, on behalf of department store Kohl's and two of its executives in Wisconsin federal court, where he led a team that successfully convinced the court to dismiss with prejudice a putative securities fraud class action by Kohl's shareholders who alleged that Kohl's financial restatements in 2010 and 2011 revealed fraudulent and material misstatements. This array of cases reinforces the peer assertion that "Bob's portfolio proves that he's in demand by a far more diverse group of clients than other 'Wall Street' lawyers. He's not strictly beholden to financial institutions."
Nelles meanwhile is ratcheting up an already rapidly escalating profile with her own matters. She represented Moody's Corporation, Moody's Investors Service and Moody's Analytics in securing an $864 million FIRREA settlement with the U.S. DoJ and 21 states regarding Moody's financial crisis-era ratings of residential mortgage backed securities and collateralized debt obligations, ending a multi-year government investigation. The overall payment by Moody's was markedly less than competitors, and the client was not compelled to admit liability. "In the securities capacity, Sharon is really coming into her own, becoming one of 'the Street's' most sought-after saviors."
A peer also insists, "It's time to pay more attention to Richard Pepperman. He is burying me with depositions at the moment so I shouldn't want to get behind him, but I have to because he is outstanding and deserves more notice." Daryl Libow and Amanda Davidoff, both of whom operate in the DC office and both of whom deal with a significant bucket of antitrust work. "Daryl is an excellent litigator, with particular strength in strategic thinking, persuasive writing, and oral argument," a client insists. Davidoff is touted by peers for having "just an excellent manner, which really serves her because she has taken on some of the toughest cases." Libow also represented (along with Pepperman) represented JPMorgan Chase and its senior officers, in securing the dismissal with prejudice of an ERISA "stock drop" class action in January 2016 on behalf of JPMorgan for a second time arising out of the so-called London Whale trading losses suffered by JPMorgan in 2012.
Joseph Neuhaus, who mines an international litigation and arbitration specialty, with particular emphasis on Latin American matters, successfully represented Banco Popular de Puerto Rico (BPPR) and Popular Securities in obtaining the dismissal of all claims against BPPR and all but two breach of contract claims against Popular Securities in a putative class action filed on behalf of investors in 23 Puerto Rican closed-end investment funds. The mutual funds, which by law had invested two-thirds in Puerto Rican securities, allegedly had declined in value significantly and become illiquid as a result of the ongoing Puerto Rican debt crisis. The claims that stem from purchases made between 2005 and 2011 were dismissed as time-barred under the Puerto Rico Uniform Securities Act; additional claims stemming from a 2012 purchase were dismissed for failure to state a claim with the required specificity.
District of Columbia
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New York
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US
Antitrust
General Commercial
International Arbitration
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Attorney | Ranking | Practice Areas |
---|---|---|
Bourtin, Nicolas | Future Star | |
Braff, David | Litigation Star , Local Litigation Star | Intellectual Property , Securities |
Davidoff, Amanda | Future Star , Top Litigator Under 40 | |
Giuffra, Robert | Litigation Star , Local Litigation Star , Top 100 Trial Lawyers | Antitrust , General Commercial , Insurance , Intellectual Property , Securities |
Holley, Steven | Litigation Star , Local Litigation Star | Antitrust , General Commercial , Intellectual Property , Securities |
Libow, Daryl | Local Litigation Star , Litigation Star | Antitrust , Securities |
Matelis, Joseph | Future Star | |
Monahan, William | Top Litigator Under 40 | |
Nelles, Sharon | Top 250 Women in Litigation , Litigation Star , Local Litigation Star | Antitrust |
Neuhaus, Joseph | Litigation Star , Local Litigation Star | International Arbitration |
Peikin, Steven | Litigation Star | Appellate |
Pepperman, Richard | Litigation Star , Local Litigation Star | Antitrust , General Commercial , Insurance , Intellectual Property , Securities |
Quinn, Yvonne | Top 250 Women in Litigation , Litigation Star , Local Litigation Star | Antitrust , General Commercial |
Sacks, Robert | Litigation Star , Local Litigation Star | General Commercial , White Collar Crime |
Seymour, Karen | Top 250 Women in Litigation , Litigation Star , Local Litigation Star | White Collar Crime |
Seymour, Sam | Litigation Star , Local Litigation Star | White Collar Crime |
Shane, Penny | Top 250 Women in Litigation , Litigation Star , Local Litigation Star | General Commercial , Securities |
Tomaino, Michael | Litigation Star , Local Litigation Star | General Commercial , Securities |
Willscher, Alexander | Future Star | |
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