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Overview

A fixture on the largest deals in the US and further afield, Sullivan & Cromwell belongs to an elite band of top-tier M&A advisers alongside rivals such as Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.

Sullivan is famed for its expertise in the financial services/banking sector in particular, while its cross-border prowess means the firm has a more international flavour than other more tightly-focused Manhattan royalty such as Cravath Swaine & Moore and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz. As such, the firm is routinely placed in the upper echelons of the US and global deal rankings, with its strength in private equity paying off handsomely in recent years.

The firm also boasts top-rated teams in both debt and equity capital markets and considerable expertise in tax and litigation. In the UK, the firm was initially focused on projects work before branching out into maintream transactional work in 2006 with the hires of Allen & Overy's Vanessa Blackmore (pictured) and, most notably, former Milbank and Freshfields partner Tim Emmerson.

Sullivan currently numbers around 650 lawyers, including approximately 165 partners, based in a dozen offices around the world.

History

The firm's exulted history begins in 1879 with the coming together of Algernon Sullivan and William Cromwell – with the firm advising on the formation of General Electric in 1882. The big deals have kept on coming ever since.

The firm reached the City in 1972, although for many years it showed little inclination to broaden the practice beyond its initial projects platform. That started to shift with the firm's long-awaited City corporate launch in 2006, while changes to the London arm's management in early 2008 – with Blackmore joining US-qualified Robert Schlein as co-managing partner – indicated something of a changing of the guard, with highly-rated veteran head Bill Plapinger set to focus more on European integration.

Click here for an analysis of the firm's City progress.

Culture

As a firm, Sullivan prides itself on the academic credentials of its lawyers, while some point to a formality between partners and associates that may not be everyone's cup of tea. On the plus side, associates are likely to be trusted with more than just doing the donkey-work.

Key departments

Corporate dominates at Sullivan although there is also a sizeable litigation practice in the US that has handled a number of major cases.

National/international coverage

Sullivan's US network covers both East and West coasts, with offices in Los Angeles and Palo Alto joining those in Wasington DC and, of course, New York.

Further afield, the firm operates a three-office European network spanning London, Paris and Frankfurt. Sullivan took its first steps into Asia by launching in Tokyo in 1987, with Hong Kong (1992) and Beijing (1999) next on the agenda.

A little unusually, the firm is also well established in Australia, having launched a Melbourne branch as far back as 1983.

Key clients

Leading partners

The addition of the sparky Tim Emmerson in 2006 gave Sullivan its first top-rated transactional partner in London, where he joined lower-profile A&O recruit Vanessa Blackmore.

Career prospects

Salaries

Recruitment

Work-life balance

Diversity

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