Sullivan & Cromwell

Join S&C for top-of-the-market corporate and litigation work, with a generalist model that lets juniors become “the best attorney they can be.”

About the Firm

“I’m fully bought in,” an associate proudly admitted. “There’s not another firm I would want to work at.” Glowing praise for this native New Yorker, but that comes as no surprise for a firm of Sullivan & Cromwell’s prestige: “We are so highly ranked across the board in so many different areas,” another interviewee boasted, “Other firms are known for certain practices, but we’re good at everything!”

Our friends at Chambers USA agree, bestowing the highest praise upon the firm for its elite corporate/M&A, employee benefits & executive compensation, highly regarded labor & employment, elite general commercial litigation, white-collar crime & government investigations, real estate, and tax work in New York. Nationwide, the firm cleans up in corporate/M&A, derivatives, financial services regulation, international trade, securities litigation, and more.

“Other firms are known for certain practices, but we’re good at everything!”

The firm’s big name and Wall Street longevity definitely played a part in the selection process for our juniors: “Our office is downtown, and we have the longevity of being a firm for 100 years” - a heritage felt most acutely across its New York and D.C. bases, where the majority of our sources were located. But for many aspiring S&C-ers, the generalist model sealed the deal. “Not many top-tier firms have a truly unassigned period instead of a rotational system,” noted one insider, who felt that “the ability to choose your own adventure and try your hand at different things is a huge benefit.”

People at the firm can lean to the more “academic” end of the spectrum. For those people, S&C delivers: “I wanted to go somewhere where I could learn as much as possible and become the best attorney I could be,” shared one junior. “I feel very satisfied with the amount of learning I get to do here!”

Strategy & Future

S&C has had a growing role in the AI infrastructure boom. Co-chair Scott Miller notes that the firm has represented “all the leading players in that area,” work he describes as “fifty and hundred–billion–dollar transactions that are dwarfing the size of M&A deals.” This has driven a surge in high–end tech and infrastructure work well beyond traditional dealmaking.

At the same time, the firm has systematically built out its London office, especially in restructuring and private capital, leveraging its strength in its North American global restructuring practice. “A lot of U.S. restructuring has a London and European component, and vice versa...If either of those two practices are weaker, it pulls on the thread of the whole restructuring practice,” Miller explains, underscoring the firm’s joined–up growth strategy across the U.S., Europe, and also Asia.

Looking ahead, S&C sees adaptability as its edge. Co-chair Bob Giuffra is clear: “We’ve never done routine legal work.” The firm is defined less by scale than by how its lawyers are trained and deployed. As Giuffra explains, the firm aims “to do the most important transactional and litigation work for the most important clients in the world,” but with teams that remain intentionally small and accessible. For juniors, that translates into early responsibility: “We try to have matters handled by the youngest lawyer who can do the work,” Giuffra says, stressing that seniority is not a ceiling for how much associates can contribute.

Read more from Scott Miller, Bob Giuffra, and Karen Braun under the ‘Get Hired’ tab.

Sullivan & Cromwell is recognized as a Strong Performer for AI Integration in our 2026 associate satisfaction survey.

The Work

All juniors are unassigned for the first two years, which “is really valuable – you get to choose your own adventure and try your hand at different things.” After those two years, you start picking practice groups. To get staffed at S&C, there is a centralized staffing model, with staff who “do an amazing job of taking into account your interests to place you where you want to be,” but we heard that this formal system is mostly utilized when you’re unassigned. Past that, “once you start working with people and building relationships, the best way to get work is by reaching out to people you know you work well with.”

Staffing does vary slightly between practices. We heard tax and the general practice group are less structured, while those in litigation were given work through staffing coordinators. Either way, associates on both sides were happy with the set up. “It’s helpful to have the centralized system as a fallback,” general practitioners shared, and junior litigators liked that with a centralized system, “it’s a lot easier to say that you want to try something new. It gives you agency in choosing how you want to develop your career, while ensuring everyone is busy and getting the experience they want.”

Career Development

Regularly recurring training means that juniors “never have a shortage of opportunities to attend.” Though mainly positive, feedback on training was a bit of a mixed bag. Some highlighted formal sessions with outside consultants, lunches to learn about foundational aspects of a practice, and monthly practice get-togethers for discussing market updates and practice area developments, where “you can learn about interesting and novel problems that people are working on.”

Litigation and corporate orientation academies for newbies “lay the groundwork for how to second chair a deposition or draft a motion,” which the majority thought the firm does “a really great job of.” There was a general feeling that some of this could be “a little abstract,” but is “a lot easier to think about when you’re actually applying it.” Informal training was a big hit, though: “It has been very positive for me, because that in itself is about relationship-building to develop mentors,” one associate reflected.

Speaking of, associates get to pick their own partner mentors after a period (typically 6-9 months for those in litigation, and 2 years for those in general practice) of getting to know people at the firm, so they can make an informed choice. Although this means rookies aren’t assigned one of these mentors immediately when they join as first years, this wasn’t a concern for any of our sources: “You get a mentor as a summer, so I act like they’re still my mentors now!” Besides, sources generally felt that they also quickly formed informal mentor relationships, given the fact that senior colleagues are invested in their success: “Partners are willing to take people to lunches or reach out to ask them to write blog posts.”

“The firm will help you find in-house opportunities with clients and develop your career, even if that extends beyond the walls of S&C.”

The consensus on partnership was that “it’s difficult, but if that’s something you choose to pursue, then it’s definitely feasible.” For those who aren’t looking to get on the partner track, the firm “will help you find in-house opportunities with clients and develop your career, even if that extends beyond the walls of S&C.”

Hours & Compensation

Our “self-motivated” S&C interviewees had no worries about their billable target – or rather the lack thereof: “You don’t need one here… we work a lot!” Many were adamant that it “helps the firm culture because you’re on your own little personal adventure,” a sentiment that also applied to the firm’s lockstep bonus. “Variable” working hours were the norm, with most associates averaging eight-hour workdays, but this is largely practice and case dependent. For example, we heard that “litigation tends to be steadier and more predictable,” while “corporate is very cyclical.”

There has been a lot of chatter about Sullivan & Cromwell’s in-office working policy, famously rumored to be five days a week. What did those with their boots on the ground have to say about it? Candidly, “they would certainly like for you to be in five days a week, but we’re all adults,” one shrugged. The policy does encourage the full five days, and most interviewees were coming in at least four… for a few reasons. “We have free breakfast, lunch, and dinner!” one exclaimed excitedly, and another elaborated that “there’s snacks and good food from Tuesday to Thursday especially. They have this healthy snack wellness person, so the snacks change weekly.” Other reasons for coming in largely boiled down to “liking to work in the office, seeing my friends, and having that facetime.”

Sullivan & Cromwell is recognized as an Excellent Performer for Benefits & Quality of Life in our 2026 associate satisfaction survey.

Culture

In essence, the S&C lawyer “prides themselves on being intellectual and interested in the law – as nerdy as that sounds,” noted one junior. Ultimately, sources shared that “if you’re someone who enjoys the work, it’s easier to thrive.” Though personality types varied widely, the commonality between juniors was “people who have a desire to learn,” one insider described. “It’s about who’s going to ask the right questions and learn about the work outside of the task at hand.”

Social life at the firm “is idiosyncratic to the different practices,” but there are firmwide events like “well-attended” cocktail parties on the patio, monthly happy hours in the “cool” tax library (including themed get-togethers for Halloween, Mardi Gras, and Valentines Day), pumpkin carving competitions, and SullProm – a “big, fun, formal dinner dance during the summer with a lot of food!” In terms of practice-specific events, those in banking have a “longstanding tradition of a biweekly Thursday happy hour with food and drinks,” the financial institutions group has a weekly lunch, and “the tax group is a big fan of karaoke… so that’s always been fun!”

“I’m staring at the Statue of Liberty as I’m talking to you!”

The New York office also has designated floor leaders, namely “associates who are given a budget to do fun things for the floor.” Plus, many juniors mentioned that the cafeteria is a big social arena: “I can go down and eat lunch with my friends,” one highlighted, “Our free cafeteria is the center of my socializing at the firm, more so than the fancier receptions that happen.” Free food aside, while the rest of the office was described as a “little old school,” insiders were quick to underline that “all lawyers get a window office with amazing views… I’m staring at the Statue of Liberty as I’m talking to you!”

Pro Bono

Associates typically complete around 60 annual hours of pro bono work, so getting involved in this type of work is “super accessible – just put your hand up, and you’ll get put on something.” Every year, the firm polls associates and partners about issues they’re interested in, and pro bono coordinators send out regular emails and invitations as matters come in. As well as this being “a great way for junior lawyers to get into the substance of the work and exercise more discretion over a matter with less supervision,” insiders emphasized that “we believe in the value of pro bono as a community. We want to take on big cases and make meaningful change, so we give lawyers opportunities for that.”

Really, a little bit of everything is on offer, from helping victims of domestic violence, visa applications, and criminal defense matters to housing rights (the last of which is especially “big in New York because we have partnerships with city organizations”). There is also regular work on LGBTQ+ and veterans’ rights, nonprofit appeals, and “a lot of wins in the asylum space.” As expected, pro bono tends to be more litigation-heavy, but there’s no shortage of work for corporate attorneys, such as an election protection hotline and working on incorporations for nonprofits. Additionally, New Yorkers “share a building with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), so some of those matters come our way pretty frequently.”

Inclusion

When it comes to cultivating an inclusive environment, sources cited a “really strong department focused on diversity that does a great job of creating community within the firm.” Affinity networks – such as the Women’s Initiative Committee (WIC), Asian Associates Network (AAN), LGBTQ+ Network, and Network of Black & Latinx Lawyers (NOBLL) – and programming are “all super active” and “open to anyone,” with frequent dinners and holiday celebrations that include “the whole firm in addition to the affinity groups.” Of the groups, one insider commented, “there are a lot of partners in these groups that run programming, which is super empowering.”