Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft

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Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP (known as Cadwalader) is a law firm based in New York City. It is the city's oldest law firm[1][2] and one of the oldest continuously operating legal practices in the United States.[3] Attorney John Wells founded the practice in 1792. Cadwalader's Lower Manhattan headquarters is one of its five offices in three countries. In 2022, the firm had approximately 400 attorneys.[4] On December 19, 2025, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft announced the merger with Hogan Lovells to form Hogan Lovells Cadwalader.[5][6][7]

Overview

New York City's oldest law firm,[1][2] Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft is headquartered at 200 Liberty Street in Lower Manhattan.[8] The firm's managing partner, Patrick Quinn, oversaw approximately 400 attorneys as of 2022.[9] 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, North Carolina, London, and Dublin.[10] In 2021, Cadwalader generated $608.9 million in revenue, with profits per partner of $4.38 million.[3]

History

File:Cadwalader Wickersham Taft LLP by David Lat.jpg
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.[11] The firm became a partnership called Wells & Strong[12] in 1818 when George Washington Strong joined Wells' practice.[11]

Wells' death in 1823[2] prompted Strong to bring in George Griffin as partner. Griffin then left in 1838 and George Washington Strong partnered with Marshall Bidwell.[13] 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.[14] The firm became Bidwell & Strong in 1855 after George Washington Strong's death.[13] 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.[11] In 1878, Strong partnered with John Lambert Cadwalader, who was assistant secretary of state during President Ulysses S. Grant's administration.[11]

Corporate law and civic responsibility

File:One World Financial Center in 2014.jpg
Cadwalader's global headquarters at 200 Liberty Street in New York City

George W. Wickersham, an antitrust lawyer, joined the firm in 1883[2] and made partner in 1887.[11] Wickersham was named U.S. Attorney General under President William Howard Taft.[11] Henry W. Taft, President Taft's brother, began working at Cadwalader in 1889.[2] He became partner in 1899 and served as special assistant to the U.S. Attorney General from 1905 to 1907.[15] The firm became known as Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft in 1914.[11]

In the 1930s, Cadwalader was involved with the custody trial determining the guardianship of Gloria Vanderbilt.[11][16] Catherine Noyes Lee became Cadwalader's first female partner in 1942.[11]

Cadwalader expanded its footprint as the firm opened an office in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1996,[10] established a London presence in 1997[17] and opened its first office in China, located in Beijing, in 2005.[18]

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.[19] 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.[19] Critics said the move was driven by individuals' financial interests and two former partners successfully sued Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft for violating its partnership agreement.[19]

Following the September 11 attacks, Cadwalader assisted families of those killed,[20] including immigrant families.[21] 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.[20] The firm released an expanded version the following year.[20]

During the 2008 financial crisis, 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".[22] Also during the fiscal crisis, Cadwalader attorneys served as advisers for the U.S. Treasury as Chrysler and General Motors restructured.[23] Cadwalader expanded in China with a Hong Kong office in 2010.[24] In 2011, it opened offices in Houston[25] and Brussels.[26]

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.[27] 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.[9] The firm eliminated the chairman position and Managing Partner Patrick Quinn began overseeing the firm.[9]

In 2025, it agreed to a deal with Donald Trump to do 100 million dollars' worth of pro bono work on behalf of causes promoted by Trump,[28][29][30] followed by mass resignations of lawyers.[31][32]

Areas of practice

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.[33] The firm has long-standing client relationships with premier financial institutions, Fortune 500 companies, government entities, charitable and health care organizations, and private clients.[34] The firm also takes on pro bono assignments, providing attorneys for non-profit organizations, including those assisting women, children and immigrants.[35][36]

One of the firm's highest-profile pro bono clients was Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai.[37] 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.[37]

Rankings and recognition

Law associates surveyed for the Vault 100 law firm rankings placed Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft at No. 53 on its 2024 list of most prestigious firms to work for.[38] In 2015, U.S. News & World Report named Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft "Law Firm of the Year" for derivatives and futures law.[39] Cadwalader was ranked No. 1 on the Commercial Mortgage Alert's top issuer counsel[40] and top underwriter counsel[41] tables for commercial mortgage-backed securities in 2015. Additionally, the firm received recognition in 2015 for its business culture[42] and diversity.[43][44]

In 2021, The American Lawyer ranked Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft No. 85 on the Am Law 100,[45] an annual ranking of U.S. firms by gross revenue.[46] 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.[47]

Notable staff

File:John Lambert Cadwalader.jpg
John Lambert Cadwalader
File:Michael E. Horowitz official photo.jpg
Michael E. Horowitz

See also

References

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  9. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
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  11. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  13. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  20. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  24. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  26. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  27. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  28. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  29. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  30. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  31. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  32. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  33. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
  34. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  35. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  36. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  37. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  38. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  39. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  40. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  41. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  43. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  44. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  45. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  46. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  47. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  48. ↑ Case and Comment, Volume 20, 1914.
  49. ↑ "Oscar S. Cox Papers," Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum.
  50. ↑ "Meet the Inspector General," U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General.

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External links

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