Davis Polk & Wardwell

Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
Headquarters New York City
No. of offices 10 (2011)
No. of attorneys 853 (2009)
Major practice areas Full-service firm
Key people Thomas J. Reid Managing Partner
Revenue $846 million (2009)
Date founded 1849
Company type LLP
Website
davispolk.com

Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP is an international law firm, consistently ranked among the most prestigious law firms in the world.[1] The firm employs more than 800 attorneys worldwide and is headquartered in New York City. The firm represents many of the world's largest companies and leading financial institutions, and is best known for its corporate and litigation practices, considered among the best in the world.[2] Davis Polk has been dubbed the "Tiffany of law firms" because of its genteel and aristocratic white shoe culture.[3]

Contents

History

The firm traces its origins to Gunthrie, Bangs & Van Sinderen, founded in 1849 by Francis S. Bangs, an opponent of Tammany Hall.[4] The firm changed its name several times to account for new partners, using names such as Bangs, Stetson, Tracy, and McVeigh and Stetson, Jennings & Russell. Among other high-profile lawyers, Grover Cleveland served as a member of the firm during the interval between his two non-consecutive presidential terms.[5] Davis Polk was located at 15 Broad Street from around 1889 until 1959.

The firm takes its current name from three 20th century partners: John W. Davis, Frank Polk, and Allen Wardwell. Davis, a former U.S. Solicitor General and the 1924 Democratic presidential nominee, made 139 oral arguments before the United States Supreme Court, most infamously in Brown v. Board of Education, in which he represented South Carolina in defense of racial segregation. With Polk and Wardwell, Davis developed close ties between the firm and the J.P. Morgan companies, as well as the Guaranty Trust Company, the Associated Press, and International Paper. (These ties were long standing, going back to Stetson himself.)

The firm has represented numerous clients in the ongoing financial crisis, with roles in the AIG, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers, and Citigroup matters.[6] It has also served as lead counsel to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in the U.S. Treasury’s $250 billion bank capital purchase program and the creation of the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility.[7] To bolster its financial regulatory practice, the firm recently hired three former Securities and Exchange Commission officials—Commissioner Annette Nazareth, Director of Enforcement Linda Chatman Thomsen, and Deputy Director of Trading and Markets Robert Colby—as well as former White House Staff Secretary Raul Yanes and former FDIC General Counsel John Douglas.[8]

Davis Polk Alumni in Public Service

Judiciary

Elected Office

Law Enforcement & Financial Regulation

Other Government Service

Other Prominent Alumni

Business

Media & Entertainment

Academia

Recognitions

Offices

North America

South America

Europe

Asia

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.vault.com/wps/portal/usa/rankings/individual?rankingId1=2&rankingId2=-1&rankings=1&regionId=0&rankingYear=2012
  2. ^ http://www.chambers-associate.com/FirmFeature/3833
  3. ^ http://www.chambers-associate.com/FirmFeature/3833
  4. ^ "Francis S. Bangs, Leading Lawyer, Dies". New York Times. March 3, 1920. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E07E3DA103BEE32A25750C0A9659C946195D6CF. 
  5. ^ Allan Nevins, Grover Cleveland: A Study in Courage, p.450.
  6. ^ http://abovethelaw.com/2008/09/davis_polk_making_bank.php
  7. ^ http://www.dpw.com/news/financialcrisis.htm
  8. ^ Scannell, Kara (April 13, 2009). "Davis Polk Recruits Ex-SEC Aide". The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123958616552412509.html. 
  9. ^ Peter Lattman, Davis Polk Lawyer Nominated for Federal Bench, New York Times, July 29, 2011
  10. ^ Derek Jensen, Utah's Newest Senator - He's LDS, Liberal, and Rising Rapidly, Salt Lake Tribune, Jan. 23, 2010
  11. ^ Peter Lattman, Davis Polk Lawyer Nominated for Federal Bench, New York Times, July 29, 2011
  12. ^ Ben Protess, Davis Polk Hires Former Antitrust Regulator, New York Times, August 18, 2011
  13. ^ William F. Kroener III Appointed FDIC General Counsel, Press Release, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
  14. ^ Amir Efrati, Davis Polk ‘Rock Star’ To Lead DOJ’s Fraud Section, Wall Street Journal, Nov. 20, 2009
  15. ^ Finra's Susan Merrill to Exit as Enforcement Chief, Wall Street Journal, March 18, 2010
  16. ^ Ben Protess, Davis Polk Hires Former Antitrust Regulator, New York Times, August 18, 2011
  17. ^ Ben Protess, Davis Polk Hires Former Antitrust Regulator, New York Times, August 18, 2011
  18. ^ White House Counsel Brings in New Staff, Legal Times, August 17, 2011
  19. ^ CGI Leadership
  20. ^ New HKEx Chief Touts China Ties, Wall Street Journal, June 10, 2009
  21. ^ Abercrombie & Fitch Names Ronald Robins General Counsel, Corporate Counsel, November 22, 2010
  22. ^ Francis L. Steton, Lawyer, Dies at 74,' The New York Times, December 6, 1920
  23. ^ Amory Bradford, 85, Times General Manager, New York Times, September 6, 1998
  24. ^ http://www.law.com/jsp/tal/PubArticleTAL.jsp?id=1202448485080
  25. ^ Corporate Counsel, September 2007.
  26. ^ Bloomberg.
  27. ^ a b http://www.dpw.com/news/
  28. ^ Thomson Financial.
  29. ^ a b Chambers Global (2007).
  30. ^ a b Chambers USA (2007).
  31. ^ The American Lawyer.
  32. ^ Turnarounds & Workouts.
  33. ^ Who’s Who Legal–International Who’s Who of Insolvency & Restructuring Lawyers (2007).
  34. ^ a b c www.legalbusinessonline.com.au
  35. ^ http://amlawdaily.typepad.com/amlawdaily/files/saigon_grill_decision.pdf
  36. ^ http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202425494328&rss=newswire
  37. ^ https://readme.readmedia.com/news/show/2007_President_s_Pro_Bono_Service_Award_Winners_Announced/608

External links