Sullivan & Cromwell

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, “S&C simply has the best bench strength of any law firm supporting financial institutions in the myriad matters in which they become involved, and this has been the case for a long time. The level of service, in terms of expertise, efficient use of partner/associate/other professionals for tasks, cost, responsiveness and client management is unparalleled in my 35 years of litigation management.”

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 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.”

Giuffra and Nelles have both been plenty busy with individual engagements since then. In January 2019, Giuffra secured a series settlements for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles between the client and state and federal regulators, as well settlements of a putative class of consumer plaintiffs, concerning allegations of excess emissions from approximately 100,000 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ram 1500 diesel vehicles sold in the US. The settlements, which do not include any admissions of wrongdoing, resolve the vast majority of FCA’s emissions-related civil litigation in the United States. Beyond the auto-related litigation, Giuffra also triumphed on appeal in May 2019 when the Fifth Circuit confirmed dismissal of decades-long litigation against longtime firm client UBS in a case dealing with the former Paine Webber entity, which was absorbed by UBS in 2000. Plaintiffs allege that UBS had knowledge of the dubious goings-on at Enron, whose stock was being purchased by Paine Webber retail brokerage customers even as Enron was about to tip into crisis. “Bob Giuffra is just a trial lawyer,” opines one peer. “He doesn’t get to try cases nearly as often as he could, but he’s definitely got the spirit and the gusto to do it when it’s inevitable. I’ve heard judges remark, ‘[Bob] really wishes he was going to get a full trial out of this case.’” Nelles meanwhile represents another blue-chip firm client, Goldman Sachs, against a lawsuit accusing the bank of discriminating against more than 2,300 women in pay and promotions. The eight-year-old case was brought by female associates and vice-presidents who have worked in Goldman’s investment banking, investment management and securities divisions since September 2004. Nelles also scored for Airbnb in January 2019, obtaining a preliminarily injunction against the City of New York from implementing an ordinance that would have gone into effect in February and would have required Airbnb and other home-sharing platforms to hand over to the City, on a monthly basis, massive amounts of data belonging to the platforms and their hosts, including hosts’ names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and information for each rental listing about its length, whether it was for a portion or the entirety of the accommodation, and the amount of fees received. The City argued that this information is necessary to enforce state and City laws prohibiting the rental of most apartments for fewer than 30 days unless a permanent resident remains on the premises. Nelles is widely regarded as “one of the best people at Sullivan and absolutely one of the top women litigators at any firm, anywhere. She knows the law, but she knows how to translate it to those who may not, and that’s a major advantage.” Beyond the aforementioned pair of mainstays, others in the New York office are making their mark. Marc De Leeuw, who attends to a varied practice encompassing commercial, intellectual property, securities and antitrust, is generating a rising level of peer commendations. “Marc is great – watch for him!” Peers also insist, “You’ve got to give it to Richard Pepperman. He’s got a practice that sits nicely on that line between securities and antitrust, and he has exhibited great skills in both areas.”

Although primarily recognized and revered for being a guardian of Wall Street, Sullivan & Cromwell has also steadily maintained its West Coast presence through its Los Angeles office. LA managing partner Robert Sacks represented Pabst Brewing Company in a three-week jury trial in its $500 million lawsuit against MillerCoors for MillerCoors’ breach of the parties’ decades-old Brewing Agreement and unfair competition. On the second day of jury deliberations following the liability phase of trial, Pabst reached a favorable settlement with MillerCoors.

Sullivan & Cromwell is a full-service law firm with an established labor and employment practice that routinely advises and represents a wide array of employers. The practice has a presence in New York with Theodore Rogers who actively represents employers facing complex and significant matters. He continues to defend Goldman Sachs in a lawsuit that accuses the bank of discriminating against over 2,000 women in pay and promotion processes. In March, the team successfully narrowed the claims that the plaintiffs can bring as a class and the US District Judge Analisa Torres asserted that the class cannot include inflammatory claims that the client maintained a “boys’ club atmosphere” where men allegedly mistreated women.