Cravath Swaine & Moore continues to set the standard for other major business law firms. Its elite status as one of the “white-shoe” firms is acknowledged by contemporaries on a coast-to-coast basis and always with tones of reverence. “The Cravath style” has been used as a descriptor for firms aspiring to the same level of pedigree. The firm also draws acclaim from several of its blue-ribbon roster of clients. “They provide excellent strategic advice and written work product. They also prepare for trial/hearing in a very thorough manner,” confirms one such client.
For decades, Cravath managed to elicit this remarkable level of national prestige from its one office in Manhattan in New York. This year saw that change. While Cravath’s reputation remains as unassailable as ever, it has finally expanded its operations to a DC office, a bold gambit that immediately caused a buzz in the nation’s capital and beyond. “Like everything Cravath does, this was not just some kind of desperate expansion for expansion’s sake,” declares one peer. “They saw an opportunity and exploited it quickly, netting themselves some great recruits in that office.” These strategic hires include
Jennifer Leete, a former associate director in the SEC’s enforcement division who handles regulatory and investigations work, and
Noah Phillips, an antitrust practitioner and former FTC commissioner. “All eyes are on Cravath in DC,” confides a peer. “We’re eating popcorn and watching this very carefully.”
While the firm’s inroads into DC are not going unnoticed, the hub of Cravath’s major litigation activity remains its New York office.
Evan Chesler, after decades of prominence as one of the nation’s premier trial lawyers, continues to retain this position. “At a point in a career where others are riding off into the sunset, Evan remains a force,” marvels one peer. “I’m amazed that he is continuing to lead cases – you’re still seeing his name on there! But he loves what he does and he still can obviously handle it, so more power to him.” A dyed-in-the-wool trial generalist who has helmed many of the firm’s landmark victories in several capacities over the years, Chesler has been noted to be “doing a lot of Delaware work lately.” While Chesler’s lustre remains undimmed, others are generating their own rival levels of star power.
Dan Slifkin has been particularly namechecked as “a real trial powerhouse, so confident in court.” The duo of Chesler and Slifkin, along with future star
Vanessa Lavely, act as lead trial counsel representing Tesla CEO Elon Musk and other current and former members of the Tesla board of directors as defendants in a derivative action filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery related to the board’s approval of a performance-based compensation plan for Musk, Tesla’s largest stockholder. The complaint alleges that the compensation package—with an alleged maximum potential value of $55.8 billion—is unfair to the company and asserts claims for breach of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment. The suit was tried in November 2022.
Kevin Orsini is routinely identified as “just one of the best” by peers, one of whom stresses, “Kevin doesn’t specialize! He can do it all – antitrust, ‘event-driven litigation’ – and he never stays in one place.” Orsini recently acted with securities star Antony Ryan for Robinhood, winning the dismissal in February 2023 of purported securities class action filed in California federal court related to Robinhood’s July 2021 IPO. The plaintiff alleged that offering documents issued in connection with the IPO contained materially incorrect or misleading statements and omitted material information about the company’s revenue growth and the reliability and scalability of its platform. The plaintiff further alleged that when the correct information emerged after the IPO, Robinhood’s share price declined by more than 55% from the offering price.
While Cravath’s litigation bench displays strength in several key practice areas, antitrust is arguably the most vibrant as of late. “Cravath is very well known as an antitrust powerhouse,” confirms one peer. “They were late to the party here, but boy have they ever caught up!” The firm has demonstrated ample evidence to support that claim with a staggering series of matters in this area. A crack firm team composed of
David Marriott, Christine Varney, Sharonmoyee Goswami
and Wes Earnhardt secured an unprecedented trial win for Illumina in September 2022, rejecting the FTC’s challenge to the company’s $8 billion acquisition of GRAIL. Cravath led the agency investigation phase and the trial team, preparing the entire case in under a year and ultimately trying the matter in August and September 2021 before the FTC’s Chief Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). The FTC appealed the ruling to the full commission, and Marriott and Goswami argued the appeal on behalf of Illumina in December 2022. In April 2023, the commission issued a decision reversing the ALJ’s ruling. Illumina has appealed the decision to the Fifth Circuit and Cravath continues to represent Illumina on appeal. “Cravath did an exceptional job for illumina in the FTC trial,” extols a peer. “We shadowed that trial and I think the result of that got them a big Amgen assignment.” A peer in the antitrust capacity also stresses, “Karen DeMasi is someone in this area I really respect. She would probably identify less as pure antitrust – she’s just a great litigator – but she has some real chops in this practice.”
Helam Gebremariam is another partner said to be adding further muscle to the firm’s antitrust team, although she also juggles securities and commercial work. “I got to see her cross-examining witnesses and it was really a tour de force,” testifies a peer.
Cravath is also said to have “really caught up quickly and substantially” in the white-collar and investigations field.
Ben Gruenstein conducted an internal investigation on behalf of WarnerMedia of Chris Cuomo, CNN’s former top-rated primetime anchor, and the conduct that resulted in his termination from the network. The probe concerned allegations that the former anchor engaged in journalistic misconduct related to the sexual-harassment scandal involving his brother, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
