Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP

Presiding Partner: Faiza J Saeed
Number of partners worldwide: 85
Number of other lawyers worldwide: 542

Firm Overview:
Celebrating its bicentennial in 2019, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP has been known as one of the premier US law firms for two centuries. Each of the firm’s practices is highly regarded, and Cravath lawyers are recognized for their commitment to the representation of their clients’ interests in the US and throughout the world.

Main Areas of Practice:

Corporate:
Cravath’s work with many of the world’s most significant companies has enabled it to develop a broad-based corporate practice. Clients repeatedly choose Cravath for their largest and most complex matters. The firm’s corporate lawyers represent companies in a diverse range of M&A transactions, including public company mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, spin-offs and joint ventures, as well as hostile takeovers and the defense of companies and boards of directors against activist hedge funds. Cravath also advises private equity firms and their portfolio companies across all aspects of their lifecycle, such as fund formation, mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, financings and tax planning and structuring. The firm has a highly regarded capital markets practice, representing issuers and investment banks in domestic and global offerings. Cravath’s banking and credit lawyers regularly represent major financial institutions and borrowers on acquisition financings and lending transactions ranging from simple credit agreements to complex multicurrency, multijurisdictional financings. The firm provides corporate governance advice to clients facing difficult choices and evaluates complex and often unprecedented transactions under the most demanding circumstances. The financial restructuring and reorganization practice addresses a wide range of issues triggered by financial distress or insolvency. Cravath’s highly regarded environmental lawyers work with its clients on matters related to acquisition and disposition strategies, financings and regulatory compliance with respect to a broad range of environmental issues. The firm’s IP lawyers advise clients in many corporate contexts, including acquisitions and divestitures, multiparty joint ventures and strategic investments, licensing agreements and portfolio development and exploitation.

Tax:
Cravath’s tax department designs tax-efficient structures for mergers, spin-offs, joint ventures, private equity deals and internal restructurings. In addition, its lawyers advise issuers and underwriters on the tax aspects of all types of capital markets offerings and credit facilities. Clients rely on Cravath’s tax lawyers for their extensive legal knowledge, practical and sound business judgment and ability to explain esoteric issues in a clear and understandable way.

Executive Compensation & Benefits:
Cravath’s ECB department brings experience and judgment to clients’ executive compensation and benefits matters. Its ECB lawyers advise companies, boards of directors, compensation committees and members of senior management in a variety of compensation and benefit arrangements, as well as legal compliance concerns.

Litigation:
Clients turn to Cravath to handle their most significant and sensitive disputes and investigations across a broad range of practice areas and industries. The firm’s litigators are routinely called upon to represent clients in trials and appeals in federal and state courts, in domestic and international arbitrations, before administrative agencies and regulatory authorities, and in many other types of proceedings, including internal and government investigations and enforcement actions. The firm has extensive experience in such diverse areas of the law as antitrust, bankruptcy, corporate governance, employment, general commercial, IP, M&A, securities, tax and white collar criminal defense. Companies, boards and board committees regularly rely on the firm to handle contested transactions and guide them through the intricacies of shareholder litigation and investigations, as well as complying with applicable laws and regulations. In addition to handling antitrust litigation, the firm advises on business conduct or potential investments to ensure compliance with antitrust laws and represents clients in securing regulatory approvals. With respect to IP, the firm handles critical litigation involving trade secrets, patents, copyright and trademarks in industries as wide-ranging as technology, pharmaceuticals and financial services. Cravath also frequently advises clients on national and worldwide IP strategy and the identification of IP assets that can be used effectively for offensive or defensive purposes. In the area of securities litigation, the firm is widely recognised for handling complex and often precedent-setting cases.

Trusts & Estates:
Cravath’s trusts and estates lawyers have served as legal counsel, advisors and trustees to several generations of families who built many of the world’s most important businesses. The firm’s lawyers work closely with US and non US private clients to realize their business, estate planning and philanthropic goals by advising them on the creation and administration of trusts, estates and charitable foundations.

International Work:
Cravath is committed to an international practice of the highest quality. Its lawyers regularly advise clients based outside the US on a wide range of international transactions, including cross-border mergers and acquisitions, international capital markets and bank financings, and general corporate and SEC compliance matters. The firm’s investigations team has expertise conducting cross-border internal and government investigations involving companies subject to multiple government authorities operating under differing regulatory regimes. Cravath represents clients in litigation in US courts and in arbitrations and investigations conducted throughout the world.

Key Clients:
Along with governments and multinational institutions, Cravath’s client base includes some of the world’s best known companies and financial institutions, including: American Express, Amgen, Anheuser Busch InBev, Ashland, Avon, Banco Santander, Barrick Gold, British American Tobacco, Casa Cuervo, Colgate-Palmolive, Credit Suisse, Disney/ESPN, Goldman Sachs, Honeywell, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, JPMorgan Chase, Linde, Lindsay Goldberg, Merck, Morgan Stanley, Mylan, Naspers, Nestle, Northrop Grumman, PG&E, QUALCOMM, Royal Dutch Shell, WarnerMedia and WestRock.