News that Cravath, Swaine & Moore is opening a Washington, D.C., office has been met with a collective raised eyebrow by the Beltway legal community. Many believe it was only a matter of time, yet all wondered why now and what was the impetus? Generally, however, pundits question the New York firm's ability to convincingly build a brand-new regulatory practice from scratch, when its D.C. competitors already have one baked in—and have for decades.