| Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | New York City |
| No. of offices | 8 |
| No. of attorneys | 578 |
| Major practice areas | Full Service Law Firm |
| Revenue | $456.5 million[1] |
| Date founded | 1792 (New York City) |
| Company type | LLP |
| Website | |
| www.cadwalader.com | |
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP is the second oldest continuously-operated law firm in the United States, after Howard, Kohn, Sprague & FitzGerald.[2][3] Established in New York City in 1792, Cadwalader has since opened offices around the world.[4] The firm is highly rated by Chambers and Partners[5] in the areas of capital markets, bankruptcy, real estate, insurance, and income tax.
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Cadwalader was founded in 1792 by an orphan, John Wells, in Lower Manhattan. In 1818, Wells established one of the first US law partnerships with George Washington Strong. Upon Wells' death in 1823, Strong asked George Griffin to join him as his partner. This partnership lasted until 1838, when they separated amicably, and Strong entered into a new partnership with Marshall Bidwell. In the same year, Strong's son, George Templeton Strong, joined the firm as a clerk; he became a partner in 1845. When George Washington Strong died in 1855, the firm was renamed Bidwell & Strong by virtue of Bidwell's more senior status, but over the following years it was George Templeton Strong who became the more prominent.[6]
Strong became disillusioned with legal practice toward the end of his life, the final straw being Bidwell's death in late 1872. Strong resigned from the firm at the end of that year, leaving it in the hands of his cousin Charles E. Strong. Charles Strong wished to form a partnership with his friend John Lambert Cadwalader, but this had to wait until 1878, due to Cadwalader's appointment as assistant secretary of state.
Henry W. Taft joined the firm in 1889 and became a partner in 1899. His special expertise in antitrust matters led to his appointment, in 1905, as Special Assistant to the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, to supervise the government's case against the American Tobacco Company. He returned to the firm in 1907.
George W. Wickersham joined the firm in 1883, and became a partner in 1887. In 1909 he was appointed United States Attorney General by President William Howard Taft, brother of Henry W. Taft. When he returned to the firm in 1914 it was renamed Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, Strong having died in 1897.
According to a 2009 survey by The American Lawyer, Cadwalader had profits per partner of $2.41 million in 2009, up 28% from 2008. Cadwalader's fortunes suffered in 2008 as its once-booming mortgage-backed securities business, which catapulted it to the top of the profits per partner charts in 2006, dried up in the 2007–2008 credit crisis. In January 2008, Cadwalader was forced to lay off 35 attorneys in its structured finance department, as it did not have enough business to provide them with work. Then, in July 2008, Cadwalader laid off 96 attorneys in the same practice area for much the same reasons. Furthermore, in January 2009, Cadwalader laid off 11 attorneys. Finally, in July 2009, Cadwalader laid off an additional 34 attorneys.
Vault ranked Cadwalader 33rd in its 2012 list of the 100 most prestigious law firms in the United States.[7]
During its history, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft has been known by a number of names:
The firm became a limited liability partnership in 2004.